


Wing's Rescue

by Cyberra, gatekat



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: M/M, Pre-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-12 20:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1198116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyberra/pseuds/Cyberra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/pseuds/gatekat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Wing is on his walkabout before taking up as a Knight of Light he comes across a strange beast chained in an abandoned warehouse.  Wing being Wing can't leave it and ends up with more than the large pet he'd expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What's That Sound?

Protihex was a city like all the other in some ways. It had rich areas, poor areas and then a vast swath for those who had enough to live without fear of hunger or pain, but not so much that they didn't work hard every orn for that security. It was in the poor districts that Wing tended to wander after he'd finished work. He lived down here to, to the extent his job of that metacycle would tolerate it. Being an architect and surveyor paid well and gave him great freedom to finish his walkabout to see each city of their world before returning to the Citadel of Light and his duties to the Order.

The poor area he was currently in had its share of run-down, abandoned buildings. Windows were covered with welded-on plates, walls were corroding, and vermin ran rampant everywhere. The turbo-rats were bold enough to come right up and steal things right out of mecha's hands. Many of the abandoned buildings showed signs that mecha were still coming and going, likely for less-than-legal purposes, but some of them looked to have been left totally alone for vorns.

Thus, hearing sounds coming from one such building was bound to attract a wandering mech's attention. It was a sound he knew well. Too well if you asked his creators. It was the sound a mecha-animal made when it was hungry, hurt, scared or all three and it was an instant lock on young mech's spark. Without hesitation Wing began to look for a way in as close to the sound as he could. He was sure it was a large being, not one of the small things he was used to hearing. It was too deep, too resonant to come from something much smaller than himself. It might even be a mech, though Wing didn't think mecha made that kind of noise.

Most of the windows had been welded shut, but vorns of corrosion had taken their toll on the walls of the building. Eventually Wing found a hole in the wall, the edges dripping with rust and weak enough for a determined mech to push through. Inside, the structure was dark, the occasional groan of stressed metal cutting across the sounds of something alive in distress. The white mech's optics could just make out a few piles of wreckage where internal walls had come down, stacks of old cargo crates blocking out almost all of what little light did leak in.

In the darkness ahead, something scrabbled on metal, another pitiful sound echoing through the space, almost drowning out what sounded like a chain rattling.

He upped the output of his optics and a hand slid to one of his swords just in case as he eased forward. A soft clicking sound emitted from his vocalizer, the pitch and frequency one that had often calmed and focused mecha-animals, both wild and domestic. Even those it didn't calm would frequently still and focus on the sound. It was dangerous with something large, but it was better than startling a large predator.

The sound of movement paused. For a moment there was silence. Then the sounds resumed, more urgent than before. The sound of scratching and scraping seemed to be coming from one dark corner of the building, near an old door that had led to another level. Wing worked his way there, still clicking and cooing until his optic-light illuminated a creature the likes of which he'd never seen. It didn't even seem to be a mecha-animal at first with fur and feathers, but as Wing watched it move the telltale signs of metal finish shown in places. It was poorly maintained and starting to gray at the very edges from lack of energon, but it was still very much alive.

The creature's fur and feathers were so matted with grime and filth it was hard to tell what color it was. A heavy collar showed through the ratty mane, connected by a thick chain to one of the few solid beams still remaining. It was straining at the chain, clawing at the ground, trying frantically to reach a turbo-rat sitting unconcernedly just out of reach, chewing on a cyber-scorpion. The creature even swung around to stretch its hairless tail toward the rat... a tail that appeared to have eyes and a mouth. What kind of creature was this?

"It's okay, I'm friendly," Wing trilled at it before tossing a small chip of energon towards it.

At the sound of Wing's voice, it spun around to fix yellow optics on him. Filthy, matted fur bristled, and it bared an impressive though rusting set of fangs at him. A growl echoed through the old structure, and mangy wings flared out to try and make it look bigger than it actually was. It watched the chip land on the ground, then carefully sidled forward to sniff at it, never taking its gaze from the intruder. After a few careful sniffs, its glossa flicked out to lick up the chip, not minding the grime that had gotten onto it.

"See, I'm a friendly." Another piece was tossed, this one just a bit closer to Wing as the compact stunt jet eased forward.

The creature hunched its shoulders, mantling its wings, lips peeling back from rusting fangs. Its optics tracked on the energon as the chip hit the ground. The turbo-rat suddenly darted forward, trying to steal the energon chip, abandoning the half-eaten cyber-scorpion. But that finally brought it into the chained creature's reach, and it pounced. The rat barely had time to screech before it was bitten in half and bolted down with a speed borne of desperate hunger. Keeping wary optics on Wing, growl resuming, the creature carefully retrieved the energon chip, practically inhaling it.

More chips followed, each one edging Wing closer until he was only a hand span from the creature's reach. Close enough that even Wing could smell the deplorable condition. This time Wing broke off a much larger piece and put it on his palm to offer.

Every step closer had made the growling increase in intensity, turning into a snarl. Grime-caked claws kneaded into the floor as the creature puffed up even more, trying to intimidate the intruder. When Wing extended his hand, though, ears stripped almost down to bare metal by vorns of neglect went flat to the creature's head, and it suddenly skittered back as far as it could get, tail tucked between its hind legs. Almost flat to the floor, it stared at him wildly, letting out an uncertain but fearful whine. Someone had abused the creature, likely quite badly, to bring out that kind of reaction.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Wing trilled softly as he broke off a piece of energon and tossed it towards the creature.

The creature just stared at him, looking from him to the energon and back uncertainly. Finally, it scooted around, its strange tail curling out. As that appendage slid closer, Wing spotted two yellow optics and the familiar diamond-shaped head of a crystal viper. Its heat-seeking infra-red depressions were layered with rust and the scales were grayed unhealthily where they weren't rusted, but the forked glossa seemed to be in working order. The snake-tail-thing approached the energon slowly, then whipped forward, snagging it and pulling it closer to the rest of the creature. Only then did the creature turn and fall upon the energon like it hadn't eaten in metacycles.

With an encouraging trill Wing tossed another piece to it and began the process of working forward again. He was in no hurry. He had three full orns before he was going to meet his clients again and he already had much of the work done in his processors.

Every time Wing eased closer, the creature backed away, trying to keep its distance, until it hit the wall and could go no further. By now it was ignoring the offered energon, ears so flat to its head that the swivel joints at the bases were whining with protest. Its eyes were wide, watching him with a mix of fear and uncertainty.

Finally, Wing got to within easy touching distance of matted blue fur. The creature let out a high-pitched yelp of fear, trying to press farther away. Pain suddenly shot through Wing's arm, and when he looked down he saw the creature's snake-tail latched onto the pristine white armor of his arm. It took a klik for long fangs to pry loose, the tail immediately whipping out of reach behind the creature's back legs. Tattered wings were flung forward to cover the creature's head, trying to shield it from the beating it clearly expected to receive.

The bite had hurt, but even before the fangs had worked themselves out he knew there hadn't been any venom. Crystal viper venom was vicious stuff and would have laid him out, screaming in pain, as systems shut down, corroded or melted.

"We're going to need to work on that before you get enough energon to actually hurt me," Wing murmured, more to himself than the beast. Ignoring the pain he backed up and cursed his own impetuousness. The creature couldn't have made it more clear that it wasn't ready to be touched. It was his fault for moving too quickly, so he gave the creature some space and waited for it to settle enough to take the energon still on the ground.

For a long minute, the creature remained pressed into the corner, a shivering bundle of fur and feathers. Eventually, the tattered cocoon cracked open and yellow optics peered out at him. Confusion warred with terror in those optics. It had struck him, even though it had only been trying to defend itself; wasn't he going to beat it? Any other time it had even looked like it was about to strike it had been beaten. One wing moved a little farther out of the way, an ear cautiously rising.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Wing smiled and tossed a small chip of energon next to the one on the floor and waited. The creature just stared at Wing with blank incomprehension for a long minute. Finally, it cautiously crept forward to sniff at the energon, picking up each piece and practically inhaling it. Crouching on the floor, it stretched its head carefully in his direction, sniffing at the air, the corroded and broken stubs of what had been heavy wire whiskers twitching.

With a widening smile Wing broke off a larger chunk of energon and held it out in the flat of his hand. At the movement, the creature froze. It stared at him uncertainly for a long minute, ears flicking back and forth, before slowly slinking forward, optics flicking from the offered energon to Wing's face and back. Slowly, very slowly, it edged closer, stretching out its neck until the tips of its fangs could catch the energon and pull it from Wing's palm. Once it had the energon, it scooted back a short distance, making short work of the energon. As soon as every scrap was gone, it looked at Wing again. The fear had lessened ever so slightly, but it was still visibly confused by the deviation from the treatment it had been forcefully taught to expect.

"That's good. See, I'm not going to hurt you," Wing promised as he put another bit of energon on his palm and repeated the offer, holding very still so the creature didn't have to process the intent of movement along with its fear. Its ears twitched restlessly, indicating its uncertainty. It crept forward again, stretching out toward Wing's hand, but this time not going for the energon. Its nose stopped barely a finger's width from Wing's hand, and the jet could feel air moving over his plating as it sniffed at him. It drew back for a moment, contemplating his scent, then advanced one more cautious step, taking the energon from his palm and retreating just out of his reach to eat it.

The cycle only repeated two more times before the creature looked hungrily at the energon, sniffed it and mouthed it, but didn't eat any more. With his hand still flat and the energon on it, Wing moved forward again to see if it would let him close enough to check out its chains.

Its ears went flat, but though it watched him warily, tail rattling against the wall, it made no move to strike. This time Wing was allowed to get closer before a growl warned that he was getting too close. The collar around its neck and the chain that held it were of heavy, thick metal, rusted but not compromised enough for the creature to break. A basic manual lock, heavily corroded, held the collar shut, buried in the creature's mane. Rust had created streaks of reddish-orange to the grime already matting its fur.

"Well, that I'm not going to be getting you out of that tonight," Wing murmured as he backed off. With a reluctant look at the creature he made a decision he hoped he wouldn't regret. "I'll be back in a few joors. I need to get some equipment."

The creature blinked at him, lifting one ear higher but otherwise its only reaction was to slowly relax as Wing backed away. Uncertain but still wary yellow optics followed him until the white jet was out of sight. Two ears pricked up as far as they could go, listening until Wing was out of hearing range. Silence returned to the old building.

* * *

Several database searches, an exotic animal vet, the Enforcers, a supply store and a transport mech and later, Wing was back at the warehouse with a fresh cube of low grade energon with a powerful sedative mixed in. As soon as he came within the creature's visual range, he was greeted with bared fangs and a throaty if raspy snarl, at least until the creature recognized him. The snarl faded to a growl, then to a soft rumble as Wing's scent reached the creature's scent receptors. An ear lifted warily as yellow optics watched him approach.

It made Wing trill in pleasure that he was remembered well, but he didn't assume it would get him within reach, much less all the heavy close contact he needed to free the creature. A chunk of energon laced with sedative was gently tossed before the creature. The piece was immediately pounced on. The creature sniffed it over, then made short work of it. If it detected any hint of a different scent, it didn't seem to care. Yellow optics turned back to Wing, moving from the energon in his hands to the white jet's face and back.

A smile greeted the look and larger chunk was tossed forward at the same time Wing took a step closer. Ears went back as Wing approached, but this time the creature didn't growl at him. It caught the second piece of energon between its forepaws, gnawing at it while keeping its gaze on the jet. Its gaze was still wary, though there was less confusion evident. The creature must have spent most of the night thinking as much as it could think.

Wing remained where he was, holding still until the energon was eaten, then repeated the process. He watched as optics dimmed and the frame relaxed, gradually sinking into recharge. The creature gave Wing one last look of pure confusion before yellow optics went dark and it sank down onto its side. Not even the snake that was its tail twitched as Wing approached. It was well and truly out cold. Wing walked forward carefully, watching for any reaction, and left the remainder of the cube near the creature's muzzle so it would encounter that first if it roused before he was ready for it to.

When he was reasonably confident that the creature wouldn't move he pulled the heavy cutters from subspace and called in the transport he had arranged to move the large, heavy cage and the creature he hoped would soon be in it to the vet he'd contacted. The collar was a bit of a challenge to remove, being made to restrain large, powerful creatures. It took the assistance of the transport mech to get the collar off, revealing a wide strip of bare metal where the constant friction of the collar had worn the fur right off. The creature didn't move as it was loaded into the cage for transport, trailing tail and wings carefully poked in before the cage was closed and loaded.

The drive to the exotic mecha-animal vet was thankfully quiet, and the creature was still out cold when it was unloaded and placed in a heavily reinforced kennel for large mecha-animals.

A few cages down, a white, cream, and red mech was finishing up work with another of the mechanimals at the vet clinic. The vet made a note on his datachart as he finished, then withdrew from the kennel and walked over to where Wing was standing.

"Wing," Checkup greeted, nodding to the jet. Pale green optics turned to the new arrival. "I take it my advice on handling large mech-animals was of some help."

"Yes, and the sedative worked well," Wing motioned to the recharging creature. "Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Checkup walked around the cage as far as he could, examining it from all angles. "Never in my existence have I seen something like this. Nor have I heard of anything like it." He frowned as he took in the matted fur and the rust on claws and fangs and scales. "It's in bad shape. First order of business will be to figure out how to get it into medical stasis, then get that grime off so we can get a good look without further contamination." Finally prying his gaze away from the creature, the vet glanced around, then called for three of his techs. They came running, bringing with them an anti-grav gurney for moving large creatures. It took all four of them to lift the creature onto it, then Checkup gestured for Wing to follow as they headed for the main examination and treatment bay.

"I'd like to know if it's poisonous. The tail looks like a crystal viper to me. They give a nasty bite," Wing said as they walked. "It's unbelievably fast too."

The vet looked briefly at the tail, guiding the gurney over to the examination table. "I've seen quite a few crystal vipers, and that does indeed look like one. Though I've never seen one grafted onto another animal's body like this." Reaching over, he picked up the limp appendage and carefully pried the mouth open. A slim tool extended from one finger, which he then used to unfold one of the fangs for examination. "A-ha. See this opening here?" He pointed to a groove on the back of the fang's tip. At first glance it looked like rust damage, but upon closer inspection it was part of the fang itself.

"Yes," Wing nodded.

"That's the venom channel, where the venom comes out of the fang. It's stored in two holding chambers in the jaw, right about... here." Checkup's fingers probed carefully along the gumline behind the fangs. The metal gave just slightly as he tapped on it. "And there they are. From the feel of it, they're empty and have been for a while. Venom production is fairly resource-intensive. From the condition of this poor critter, once the venom ran out it simply didn't have the resources to produce any more. Definitely something to keep an optic on." Letting the fang fold back into place, Checkup put the tail-snake down, moving up higher to examine the neck. "Most mechanimals have an access panel on the neck... Let's see if this thing does as well."

One of the vet techs came over to help, moving the matted mane out of the way while Checkup's fingers probed the metal plating underneath. The vet frowned, then glanced up at the second vet tech, telling the other mech to prepare a solvent bath with some fairly strong solvents and another chemical mixture Wing didn't know.

"Is there an anti-venom, or way to stop it from producing other than starvation?" Wing asked politely. "It managed to bite me once. It's likely to again."

Checkup paused to consider for a moment. "There's never been a good anti-venom for crystal viper venom. A better idea would be to install an inhibitor to prevent venom production. If you're going to keep it, that would probably be the best option. It shouldn't need the venom for hunting or for defending itself." There was a click from under the matted mane, and the vet made a triumphant sound. "There's the access panel. And now..." He made an adjustment to something, "...it's in medical stasis. This critter won't be waking up until we say it can."

The vet tech looked up from the comm. "The bath is ready, and we've added the extra anti-parasite mixtures you ordered."

"Good." Checkup nodded, then looked at Wing. "I assume you want to help?"

"Absolutely," Wing nodded quickly. "He's going to need plenty of home care."

"Might as well start right from the beginning, then." Checkup nodded. "First, a bath. We need to get all this grime out of his fur so we can see what might be hidden under it. He's also got the worst metal-mite infestation I have ever seen in my entire existence. I had a pretty powerful pest-killer added to the bath solvents to kill the mites, but he'll need to soak for at least a groon for it to be properly effective." The vet guided the gurney into a side room containing a large pool. The two techs were rigging a harness so the creature could be lifted from the gurney into the solvents without aggravating any hidden damage.

"Which will give plenty of time to work on untangling and cleaning him up," Wing said agreeably as his new pet sank into the solvent bath.

"Indeed." Checkup rifled through a cabinet for a moment, coming up with some armor brushes and handing one to Wing. "These might not be the best for use with that fur, but they'll do the job."

In the solvent bath, grime was coming out of the creature's fur in a thick, nasty-looking cloud. A thin silver film of dying metal-mites drifted through it as the anti-parasite chemicals got to work. Jets turned on under the surface, blowing the cloud toward the submerged drains while dislodging even more of the surface grime from the creature's frame.

Wing looked at the mess floating free and hesitated. "Do we need to wait until the mites are all dead?"

"Give it a couple of breems to be sure none of them are capable of jumping, just in case. They're bad enough on a mechanimal; on a mech they can be worse." Checkup eyed the floating silver cloud with a critical optic. "Give it time to work through all those snarls and that grime and get at the mites under it."

After four breems of waiting, the vet judged that the chemicals had had enough time to take effect; if the mites weren't already dead then they were at least dying and incapable of surviving even if they got onto a new host. Sliding into the pool, Checkup waited for Wing to join him before wading over to the submerged creature.

"Will he need another anti-pest treatment with an infestation this bad?" Wing asked as he went to work gently scrubbing gunk and grime from badly dented and uncared for plating.

"At least a couple more treatments, just to be sure there aren't any larva or pupae still on him. Even one or two can start a whole new infestation," Checkup confirmed. "Damn little slaggers are hard to get rid of." He picked up the other brush, getting to work on one of the limp wings. "Primus almighty... There have been vermin _chewing_ on his wings!"

"He probably didn't have the strength to stop them," Wing twitched unhappily. "I hope he can fly and those aren't just for decoration."

"We'll be able to find out once he's clean and I can start a full examination, but from what I see under the chewed plating, these were indeed meant for powered flight." The vet lifted the wing enough for Wing to see the machinery showing through the damaged plating along the leading edge. "But if he's been chained down for as long as appearances suggest, he might not remember how." Tucking the wing into the harness to keep it out of the way, Checkup worked his way down the expanse of tattered, vermin-chewed feathers, peering at the joint where the wing emerged from the creature's back.

"I can teach him, once he's repaired and trusts me enough," Wing said confidently as he worked along the creature's side. "If all goes well, do you think he'll be able to handle moving within a vorn?"

"Keep him in your quarters for a while after the move," was the reply. "Once he gets used to the new scents and sounds, you should be able to take him on short outings. But you will have to keep him on a leash and muzzled, likely at both ends, because of his size and the potential for serious injuries if he bites someone. Even without any venom."

"I'll make sure the public is safe," Wing promised. "I don't want him euthanized because I didn't take care."

Looking up from working on a particularly nasty tangle, Checkup gave the white jet a quick smile. "Good to know."

Three vet techs came in, carrying wire brushes and small tools for cleaning delicate seams. One lifted the creature's head, holding the jaws open while another tech probed carefully at the impressive fangs, checking the amount of corrosion. A muttered curse indicated that the damage was fairly extensive.

"He _can_ be repaired, right?" Wing looked at the vet.

The vet ducked around the wing he'd been working on to get a look at the creature's mouth. "We'll have to rebuild parts of his lower jaw and most of the dental plates... They're so badly corroded I'm amazed they haven't fallen apart yet. Repairs will be extensive but doable." White-and-cream plating ruffled angrily. "Whoever did this to him should be charged with abuse. To leave any animal to suffer like this..."

"Anyone who'd do this to an animal won't be much safer for mecha," Wing said quietly as he continued to work on the strange mechanimal's rump and then down to the serpentine tail. "For what little it'll be worth, I reported this to the Enforcers after I talked to you. From the looks and teeks, I don't expect them to do much with it, but at least they were happy to give me ownership. That venom inhibitor you mentioned ... is it safe to install with the first round of repairs? I'm willing to take my chances with a physical attack, but venom could drop me too fast to do anything."

Checkup handed the jet a wire brush for working on the rust covering the tail's scales. "Venom production takes a lot of resources. Any resources this critter takes in will be more critical for repairs than producing venom. I've seen that in injured crystal vipers. They have to heal first before they can make more. But yes, I can install the inhibitor while I'm doing the repairs. That will give his systems time to adjust before he comes around."

"And avoid surprises with when production begins," Wing added as he worked on the scales.

"Indeed." Checkup nodded as he started untangling the mane. The third tech joined in, tackling the other wing and the group fell silent as they worked. By the time they'd finished there was a hint that the creature had once been predominantly blue, but the list of repairs had grown to the point that Wing was seriously worried about his ability to pay.

As the techs began to move the creature, Wing pulled Checkup aside. "I was ready for your estimate, but how much higher is it now?" he asked quietly.

The vet sighed as he watched the creature being moved back into the main surgery bay. "I won't lie to you, this is going to be an expensive repair. He's in bad shape; must have been left abandoned there for vorns." Pale green optics met Wing's gold. "I won't charge you all at once. You can make payments when and as you can, until the total amount has been paid. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," Wing's frame sagged in relief and his smile brightened considerably as his field lapped against Checkup's in gratitude. "He deserves a chance at a good life after all he's been through. I should be able to pay you off within the vorn, likely sooner. The original estimate can be covered up front."

Checkup returned the smile. "He's lucky you found him; anyone else would likely have put him down right there and not thought anything about it." Waving for Wing to follow, he headed into the surgery bay.

The creature had been moved onto a large berth, damaged wing spread out so that the damage could be seen to. Techs were bringing in repair equipment and tools, as well as making notes and taking measurements for new parts that would need to be fabricated.

"There's a lot of work to be done," the vet told Wing. "You can watch if you want to. I'll keep you updated on any new developments or anything else I might find while I'm working on him."

"Thank you. I would like to watch," Wing's armor gave a ripple of curiosity mixed with delight at the opportunity. "I'll be quiet and out of the way," he promised.

Checkup let out a soft chuckle at the response. "We'll have to go through decon before we go in... We don't want to accidentally introduce any new contaminants. In that condition even a mild contaminant could have devastating effects." He led the way to the decontamination area, where the pair were carefully cleaned to remove anything that might have gotten onto them, then entered the surgery. A place was provided for Wing to sit where he could see everything clearly. Then the vet got to work. 

Wing remained quiet and observant, his curiosity barely contained as plating was removed and internals exposed to determine what internal structures needed to be replaced. The shop talk was flying thick and fast. Notes were being taken, schematics were being made, and parts were being brought in. On several occasions it took two of the techs to help get corroded parts out without them disintegrating.

Several joors in, Checkup made a puzzled sound. Without looking away from whatever he was examining, he reached up to tug the overhead light around for a better look, probing at whatever he was investigating. After a breem, he straightened, scratching the back of his helm in puzzlement. "That's odd."

"What is it?" Wing dared to ask.

Checkup looked over at him, then waved him over. "Come over here, look at this."

Once Wing came over, the vet pointed at what he'd been looking at. "See these seams here and here? Those seams should not be there. This creature is a standard quadruped frame, and that's not part of the wing structure or flight systems. They look almost like..." Checkup's voice trailed off.

"They're transformation seams," Wing said with a certainty that an architect had no business having. "Mechanimals don't transform. Ever."

"They most certainly do not... They're not built to, nor do they have the equipment or the programming." Checkup frowned. "Which means this is either a very unusual mechanimal... Or it's not a mechanimal at all." Stepping around Wing, he began carefully poking through the creature's chest cavity, working his hands in between the machinery.

"Well, we do know it's a very unusual mechanimal," Wing said cautiously, truly not wanting to think that it was a mecha that had been reduced to this state.

Checkup made a face as he continued to reach deeper, then stopped. "Oh Primus... Wing, give me a hand here, please."

The two of them got the creature all the way over onto its back, forelegs stretched out to keep them out of the way. Checkup showed Wing how to loosen the chest plates so they could be removed, then carefully pushed back the inner systems. Right in the center, half-hidden behind a tangle of fuel lines and circuit boards, was a crystalline cylinder containing an orb of coppery-orange energy.

"He's got a spark." The vet stared at it for a breem, then looked at Wing, clearly troubled. "This isn't a mechanimal, it's a _mech_. A beast-former."

"I didn't know they existed outside of symbiots," Wing murmured, staring at the spark as he attempted to process what all this meant. "He showed no hint of advanced intelligence or reasoning when I was there."

"There are a few beast-formers around. They're mostly with exploration crews, since their forms make it easier to move around environments on other worlds. Some serve as scouts in the military. You don't see many of them on Cybertron." White-and-cream armor trembled slightly. "Treat a mech like an animal long enough, it leaves a mark. This poor mech must have been treated like an animal for so long that he's _become_ an animal. Submerged under animal instinct and buried there." Checkup chewed his lip for a moment. "With enough time and enough work, it may be possible to get his mech personality to resurface. If he's even still in there."

"Even if he isn't, as long as his processors aren't irrevocably damaged, he can be taught to be a mech. Even sparked mecha need to be taught how to be part of society." He hesitated. "This means you can't repair him, doesn't it?"

"The damage to his beast-mode shell, I can do some of the repair work. But the rest, the internal systems, will have to be done by a real doctor. I'm not qualified to work with mech systems; they're far more complex than mechanimal systems. They'll have to install the venom inhibitor, too. It will need different programming for use with a mech processor. The tail seems to have its own separate processor, which is how it can move independently of the main body, but it's still directly connected to the main processors." Checkup leaned back, then began reattaching the chest armor.

"Do you know of any doctors that I should approach first?" Wing asked quietly even as he tried to grapple with the price increase he was now looking at and the less friendly payment plan he'd face, assuming he could talk a hospital into it.

Pausing in reattaching the armor, Checkup thought for a long moment. "I know several good doctors at the main hospital; I can give them a call and ask for their opinions. This mech is not a mechanimal, but he's been treated like one for so long he might as well be. I don't think a hospital would admit him in that state. But perhaps the doctors I know could come here and treat him. I have most of the equipment, but not the training or the knowledge." He considered for a long moment.

"That would be great," Wing said with genuine relief. "He's probably not safe to have in a hospital."

"Not when it's animal instinct driving him. The risk would be too great that he'd go berserk and injure someone." Checkup glanced at the wall-mounted chrono. "At least one of my friends should be off-shift now... If you'll wait here, I'll go give him a call."

"I will," Wing promised and settled into his spot to watch the assistants work on simpler repairs and continuing measurements.

It was going to be a long, multi-orn process to rebuild his new charge. Maybe even a decaorn. Then vorns to socialize him to be a mecha again.

Wing swayed slightly at what his animal rescue had turned into.

Checkup nodded to him, then left the surgery bay to make the call.

* * *

It took a solid decaorn and a half for the repairs to be completed. The doctor Checkup had contacted, a big triple changer named Medic Alert, had done all the work himself in his off time and leave days. He'd proven as outraged by the beast-former's condition as Checkup had been, and had refused to let the damage go unrepaired for any longer than absolutely necessary. Parts had been fabricated, wiring replaced, damaged connections and fuel lines repaired. The mech's beast-alt head had required a nearly complete rebuild; the corrosion had spread even farther than Checkup had anticipated. The final addition had been the venom inhibitor, carefully programmed and installed. Then the beast-mech had been taken to the ICU section, placed in a clean cage, hooked up to an energon drip, and left to recover for several more orns.

Wing had been apprehensive when the subject of payment had finally been brought up. The amount of repair work, plus the services of an actual medic, would have been astronomical. When Medic Alert had replied that Wing would only be charged for the parts but not the labor, Wing had all but collapsed at the medic's feet in a relieved puddle. It would still be expensive and take him at least a vorn to pay off, but it was nowhere near as costly as it could have been.

Finally, Checkup determined that the beast-former was healed enough to be woken up. He was moved into a large recovery cage, padded so he couldn't hurt himself stumbling around and to sooth the aches of so much fresh repair work. The bars were strong, proven to be able to contain both razor boar and robo-bear, and Wing was firmly kept on the outside. There was literally no telling how the being Wing now called Blue would react to being fully repaired and almost fully fueled.

The beast-former was flopped in the cage, wings partly spread. Yellow optics were dimly lit as his processors began to boot up. Checkup closed the access panel on Blue's neck, then quickly left the cage and closed it before Blue came fully around.

It took two breems before yellow optics flashed to full brightness. Blue ears flattened back, and every hair on his frame stood on end. After a couple of attempts he managed to raise his head, staring around wildly, all four sets of claws digging into the cage padding. A sound from somewhere across the room had Blue leaping right off the floor, skittering backward and banging into the cage bars.

Wing trilled and cooed, trying to draw Blue's attention to him and focus the beast-former's attention on what he hoped was something safe.

Wide yellow optics snapped to him. Blue's lips peeled back from his dental plates in instinctive response, then he paused. Repaired whiskers fanned out as the beast-former sniffed at the air, then an ear lifted as a confused sound escaped. Creeping forward, belly to the ground, Blue stuck his nose between the bars for a better whiff.

Wing offered his hand, opened flat for the identity check, then offered the other with an energon treat. All the while he continued to coo and trill encouragement.

The beast-former's muzzle was just barely touching Wing's hand as he sniffed, comparing the scent to one he already knew. Some of the tension went out of the blue-furred form as he recognized something _familiar_ among the riot of new sights and sounds and scents. A ridge of fur remained standing on end all the way down his backstrut, but the rest was slowly lowering back into place. The treat was sniffed suspiciously, then taken carefully from Wing's hand, the first time the creature had actually eaten from the jet's hand.

With a warm smile and flush of pleasure-praise-pride in Wing's field, he slowly, very slowly, moved to scritch blue's chin.

Furred ears flicked back and forth uncertainly, then paused as how good that felt registered. Blue let out a soft whine, expressing confusion and nervousness, but didn't pull away. Yellow optics flicked from side to side, skipping nervously over everything in visual range, ears flattening back as he spotted movement.

"It looks like you've started to earn his trust," Checkup commented, keeping his distance so as not to startle the skittish beast-former and keeping his voice down.

"I've very glad he's retained enough intelligence and good temperament to respect kind treatment," Wing replied, still cooing and stroking Blue's chin. Encouraged by the acceptance, Wing scratched his way forward until his hand was against the side of Blue's jaw hinge.

"It's a very good thing." Checkup settled onto a bench to watch. "It'll take work to fully earn his trust, but you already knew that." The vet tilted his helm, watching how the beast-former moved. "He's still a little wobbly, but that will wear off shortly. You can probably take him home, as long as you've got a way to get him there. I have a collar and leash, and the muzzles, you can take with you."

"I've arranged for a transport," Wing said. "Given how skittish he is around everything, the less potential he has to encounter people this orn the better. There's no way he's ready to just be on a leash for a long walk in public yet."

"Take the leash anyway, for when he is ready. I'll have a transport cage brought in for him." Checkup got to his feet, moving away.

Blue made another nervous sound, tilting his head just enough to watch the vet leave, but he still didn't pull his head away from Wing's hand. Blue fur spiked and flattened as Wing continued to scritch his jaw and trill at him, his field warm, happy and calm. Inch by inch, he slid his hand further in to run his fingers through the thick mane. If Blue took offence now, his forearm would be detached before he could pull it back.

The mech tilted his head to look at Wing, nervousness and uncertainty still warring in those optics. Wire whiskers tickled at Wing's arm as Blue sniffed him, but Wing had apparently been listed as "no threat" in the abuse-damaged processors. Blue made no move to bite or pull away. He flattened himself a bit lower in the cage in instinctive fearful reaction, but that was all the response he made.

Checkup and one of his techs returned with the cage, moving slowly as they maneuvered it into position. Only then did Blue pull away, getting as far away from the strange mechs as he could, crouching down and eying them warily.

"If you can get him into the transport cage, then he'll be ready to go," the vet told Wing, opening the smaller cage and lining up the door with the larger cage. The transport cage had a thick pad or animal bed made of a plush material lining it, so Blue could lay down without aggravating the aches already present from the extensive repair work.

"I believe I can, if you're away from it," Wing said as he slid the large cage's door up just enough to slip into the cage, where he crouched and held out his hand, treat on the open palm.

Checkup nodded, watching Wing for a moment, then taking himself and his tech out of the room. Blue watched them go, lifting his ears slowly once they were gone and looking back to Wing. His whiskers twitched as he scented the energon. Slowly, he crept forward to sniff at Wing's hand, carefully taking the treat from his palm.

"That's a good Blue," Wing trilled and left his palm there and slowly reached to stroke the back of Blue's neck, careful to make every movement slow and clear.

Yellow optics followed the movement, but aside from a nervous twitch of dark blue wings he remained where he was. His snake tail curled up over his back to watch, forked glossa flicking out but maintaining its distance. Slowly, very slowly, the beast-former took a step closer.

"Very good. I'll never hurt you," Wing promised as he slowly produced another treat and offered it.

Wire whiskers twitched. Blue advanced another step, looking cautiously at Wing before stretching his neck toward the treats. Folding his wings tightly to his back, he stepped forward again, reaching out to carefully take one.

Another treat and another step, this time putting his main chassis even with Wing and Wing's arm as stretch as far as it would go. The next treat was tossed just a handspan further, far enough that Blue's entire helm would be in the transport cage.

The movement had Blue flattening himself against the cage floor, ears flat to his mane. It took him a moment to realize the move had not been a threatening one, and another breem to carefully creep forward to investigate what Wing had tossed. The treat was nosed for a moment, then picked up and eaten. Blue sniffed at the padding in the smaller cage, stretching out one forepaw to poke at it.

When he looked back towards Wing, another treat was carefully produced and tossed further into the cage. Another instinctive flinch answered the movement. This time, though, he recovered more quickly, easing after the treat. His serpent-tail curled up and around, forked glossa flicking out to brush Wing's armor, staring him in the optics for a long minute before lowering again. Blue kneaded the transport cage's padding briefly, then eased forward again, sniffing at it.

A treat just a tiny bit further in rewarded him along with the warm approval in Wing's field and happy trilling. Blue flinched, but that was his only reaction to the treat flying past his nose. He followed it, creeping fully into the smaller cage. The treat was quickly eaten, then he investigated the smaller cage, poking his nose into the corners and pawing at the padding. Finally apparently deciding that nothing was going to jump out and bite him, Blue curled up in the center of the padding, resting his chin on his forepaws. Now that the nervousness was subsiding to lesser levels, the aching of new parts and extensive repairs was setting in.

"You are such a good little mech," Wing cooed his approval and gently closed the door on the small cage, then slipped out of the holding cage to poke his head out of the room. "He's settled in. The transport said it'll arrive within a breem. Maybe leave him there until it arrives so there's only one move?"

Checkup nodded as he walked over, peering into the other room. "We can do that." He handed Wing a small package. "Painkillers, for when the aching gets bad enough he starts growling at everything. You saw how extensive the repairs were; he is going to be aching for quite a while as everything finishes integrating and while his internal repair systems are still not working at full capacity yet. Mix it into the energon and give it to him that way."

"I will," Wing promised smoothly, and he meant it. "I've had a couple bad crashes. Never that big a rebuild, but I know how much it aches. Is there anything else I can do for him?"

"Keep things quiet, be careful who you let into your apartment, and let him sleep as much as he wants." Checkup watched yellow optics watch them. "I would suggest getting some simple sparkling puzzles, the kind that snap together to form a larger shape, for him to poke at. Making him think will stimulate processor activity and open up more of its capacity. That will help in finding out just how much of his mech self is still in there."

"I can do that," Wing brightened at the prospect of coaxing the mech out. "I'll bring him back in a decaorn for the appointment, and call if anything comes up before then."

"Hopefully nothing will come up, but if something does, don't hesitate to call even in the middle of a recharge cycle." The vet nodded to Wing. "Medic Alert and I will be here in a decaorn for the checkup."

Two of the vet techs peeked in. "The transport is about to arrive."

"Then let's hope he doesn't freak out when the cage moves," Wing said as he turned to go into the room and trilled softly as he approached the heavy metalmesh covered cage to let Blue know he was coming.

Blue responded with a huffing sound, which became a cough as he tried to produce an actual sound that wasn't a growl. His badly corroded vocal circuitry had been repaired; he just had to get used to being able to use it again. Furry ears twitched to follow every sound. Other than that the beast-former's only reaction was to curl up a little tighter, fur slicked down to his frame nervously.

"It'll be okay," Wing carefully reached in through the uncovered bars on the door to stroke Blue's head. "We'll be home soon and then you won't have so much activity."

The beast-former tilted his head to touch his nose against Wing's arm, making a faint whining sound. His optics were following the vet techs as they prepped the cage for moving, tail coming up to follow them as they moved around behind the cage. They moved slowly, not wanting to startle the creature.

"The transport is here, and ready for the cage," Checkup called, keeping his voice down.

"Just a little more excitement and we'll be home," Wing promised before withdrawing his hand and moving to help the techs pick up the cage and keep it level as it was moved through the building and into the transport, the same one that had picked them up at the warehouse a decaorn and a half before.

Wing turned to Checkup and shook his hand. "Thank you for all your help."

"You are very welcome." Checkup returned the handshake, giving the jet a warm smile. "I wish you the best of luck with him."

Blue was mostly visible as a dark lump in the middle of the cage, he'd hunched so far down. He showed no other sign of freaking out or panicking, though. Either he trusted Wing that nothing would hurt him or he just ached too much to move, or maybe both. Either way, Wing leapt into the air and transformed to fly above the transport on the way to the apartment Wing was renting.

With the help of the transport mech, Wing got the cage up to the top floor below the penthouse and inside through a rarely used service elevator. He thanked the mech and paid him with a tip, then knelt in front of the cage to check out Blue was doing.

Blue had lifted his head to watch Wing flying, his own feathered wings twitching. The elevator made him curl into a tight ball, using his wings to hide himself, not liking the sound or the movement. When Wing looked into the cage, all he could see was a lump of dark blue feathers and a blue-scaled snake-tail looking back at him.

"Hey Blue. The movement is all over. This is home," Wing trilled to him. "I know you don't understand me yet, but you will eventually. I know you're a mech in there," he chatted as he put a treat in his hand and slowly put his hand inside the cage with the treat on his palm.

For about a half breem the only movement was the snake-tail investigating the new surroundings, glossa a blur of movement. Finally, the feathery cocoon cracked open, allowing two yellow optics to peer out. Whiskers twitching, the beast-former slowly uncurled, stretching his head toward Wing.

"That's good, Blue," Wing trilled encouragement, his hand still steady. "You're safe here."

Wing got a raspy whining sound as Blue carefully took the treat, glancing around warily. His whiskers were twitching, scent receptors working overtime as he tried to figure out where he was now. Slowly lifting his head a little higher, he peered around, curious but cautious.

"That's right, you're safe," Wing assured him, then slowly moved away. "I'll let you out tomorrow."

The beast-former watched him go, then blinked and yawned hugely, putting his head down. Dark blue wings tucked tightly against his sides. It wasn't long before yellow optics began to dim as Blue slipped into recharge.


	2. Settling In

Consciousness returned slowly, along with the aching that had been in his frame since waking up in the first strange place. Blue's wings twitched, a sound like a soft raspy groan escaping. His processor reeled, trying to figure out what happening. Then his scent receptors caught a whiff of strange scents and his optics snapped online.

It took a half breem for his memory banks to catch up with the rest of his processor. He didn't recognize where he was; it wasn't the old warehouse he'd been chained. The scents were different, and there was much more light. Huddling down in the cage, Blue flattened his ears, trying to sort through muddled impressions until some things started to make sense.

Waking up in another strange place, hurting but without the ever-present itching he'd learned to ignore. Strange mechs everywhere. Panic. Then white-stranger-no-hurt, offering something that smelled and tasted good. Being moved. Falling asleep.

After a breem, Blue lifted his head again. He remembered white-stranger-no-hurt saying something he hadn't understood, but the sounds had been non-threatening. Maybe this was a safe place? Fanning out his whiskers, Blue sniffed the air, peering around at what he could see. Bars blocked him from leaving the place he was in, something not much longer or wider than he was nose to rump. It was clean though, soft ... nice.

Outside was bright, and there was the movement of a single large thing.

White-stranger-no-hurt came into view and knelt. It put a hand inside the cage and had another bit of good smelling _food_. It was making sounds, but they still sounded non-threatening, and white-stranger-no-hurt felt nice. 

Pricking up his ears, Blue watched white-stranger-no-hurt, stretching out his neck and poking his muzzle through the bars as far as he could. There was no scent of "threat", a scent Blue knew far too well. This stranger had been there in the warehouse and at the other strange place and had not tried to hurt him. White-stranger-no-hurt maybe could be trusted.

Moving made aches complain, and Blue let out another raspy moan. He didn't recall being injured or attacked. Why did he hurt so much?

White-stranger-no-hurt didn't move the hand with the treat, but its other hand came up slowly to rub his chin. All the while white-stranger-no-hurt continued to make quiet noises that sounded non-threatening. Instinct screamed that the touch could be threatening, making furred ears flatten a bit, but Blue didn't pull away. He sniffed at the treat, reaching forward a bit more, keeping a careful optic on the hand's owner, and carefully took it. Blue fur rippled at the touch under his chin, but it didn't hurt. Instead it felt _good_ , and he cautiously leaned into it while making short work of the food. Registering how hungry he was, Blue sniffed at white-stranger-no-hurt's hand, looking for any traces he might have missed.

White-stranger-no-hurt chittered more friendly sounding nonsense and the bars between them were lifted out of the way. It gently nudged Blue's nose inside so the bars didn't hurt Blue. He froze for a moment, eying the bars as they moved. Then there was a full cube of liquid energy on the floor between them. He looked at the cube, one ear twitching nervously, then eased a step toward it, leaning down to sniff at the cube. It smelled good, like _food_ , and finally he ventured a tentative lap. Both ears pricked up, then he applied himself to the cube with more enthusiasm, using his foreclaws to hold it so it wouldn't get away.

Hunger sated, Blue looked at white-stranger-no-hurt, then poked his nose at the place where the bars had been. Small-place-den-safe warred with new-place-curious. New-place-curious eventually won, and he advanced a step, poking just his head out to look around.

White-stranger-no-hurt continued to chitter and coo nice sounds as it moved back a bit so Blue could walk out when he wanted to. The space outside the den was bright, large and open to the sky in many places, but a nervous glance up assured Blue that it wasn't without a roof.

The presence of a roof was very reassuring. He'd been exposed to bad weather many times and had not liked it one bit. Acid rain stung like cyber-bee stings and made everything taste terrible.

The sky-openings made him nervous as well. Instinct said blue-sky-good while also shrieking no-wings-DANGER. Slowly, he slinked out of the small safe space, belly almost touching the ground and tail tucked down between his hind legs. When nothing jumped out to eat him, he lifted himself up a bit more, sniffing at the air.

The chatter of good-sounds continued from white-stranger-no-hurt as he looked around. The floor wasn't flat everywhere like he knew. Places were raised, some like things to step up onto, others thin flat surfaces with small legs holding them up. Still others had objects that stirred something deep in his processors, but he didn't know what, or what the objects were.

The first thing Blue investigated were the sky-openings, sidling cautiously over to figure out where the safe boundaries were, how close he could get without falling. A tentative poke of his nose encountered a barrier covering the opening, making a convenient boundary to mark the edge. In several places where the openings reached the floor, the barrier was well before the edge he could see.

Reassured, Blue backed away, then turned and carefully began examining the new place, sniffing at everything and poking his head into every crevice large enough, checking for hidden danger. One ear turned to remain pointed toward white-stranger-no-hurt, listening for any change in tone. The only time white-stranger-no-hurt's tone shifted even slightly was when Blue started around a corner, but that was only the effect of it getting up to remain where it could see Blue.

He walked slowly around the large C-shaped space, finding little that was interesting and nothing that seemed dangerous. Only white-stranger-no-hurt was there, and it kept its distance while he investigated everything.

Blue had never had access to such a large space. In the warehouse he'd only had as much room as his chain would allow. He could scent no danger in this new place, found none of the corrosion that warned of vermin activity or weather getting in. It seemed safe enough.

Turning, he looked at white-stranger-no-hurt, blinking at it before lowering his head a bit and sidling over. His trust was rewarded with more of that slow, feels-so-very-good touch and happiness in the voice and field of white-stranger-no-hurt.

Instinct loudly informed him that this white stranger could still be dangerous. Could still hurt him. Blue's ears twitched as he considered, as best he could. White-stranger-no-hurt had shown no signs of wanting to hurt him, had none of the badness in his field that the other mecha from the warehouse had had in theirs. Making a rough sound, Blue leaned forward to lightly press his nose against white-stranger-no-hurt's leg.

The flush of happy-pleasure across white-stranger-no-hurt's field felt good, and so did the continued attention. As time passed he slid a bit closer, allowing white-stranger-no-hurt to stroke him all the way to his shoulders. The single touch to his wing-joint made him tense, but the hand was gone before he could react more and never went close to it again.

Eventually, white-stranger-no-hurt stood, clicking gently as he moved towards the den. A glowing cube appeared in his hand and was put inside the corner of the den.

Furred ears pricked up as Blue watched. His stomach tanks grumbled at him; he was hungry. He eased across the new place and into the den, sniffing at the cube before grabbing it with his front paws and poking his nose in to get at the food. He barely noticed that the bars slid down while he was inside, and white-stranger-no-hurt's chatter didn't change tone, his field didn't change intent. The opening simply closed.

After a moment, white-stranger-no-hurt walked away. The movement got Blue's attention, ears flattening back as he pulled the cube closer in an instinctive "mine!" Yellow optics tracked white-stranger-no-hurt across new-place-maybe-safe, then he let out a huff of surprise as the wall opened. Blue stared hard at the wall, eying it warily as he continued to crouch protectively over his food. It took him a half breem to settle down and resume eating, still staring at moving-wall-strange long after it had closed, hiding white-stranger-no-hurt.


	3. A New Toy

Three decaorns into rehabilitating Blue and Wing was elated with how pleased both vet and medic were with the progress. He was still overly cautious around everyone and everything, but he'd stopped cringing and gained a bit of confidence around Wing's apartment. So this time when Wing entered the apartment he had a toy in hand. Not one for a mechanimal, but for a very young sparkling. He whistled a trill to Blue to let the mech know who had entered and walked right to the front of the cage that Blue stayed in when Wing couldn't watch him directly.

"Hey there, you're doing so well. I bet you don't even ache anymore," Wing smiled as he lifted the bars.

Blue lifted his head from where it rested on his front paws, making a purr-growl sound to let Wing know Blue recognized him. The beast-former stretched from nose to serpent-tail, then sat back on his haunches, blinking at the strange thing Wing carried. His head tilted from side to side as he tried to make sense of it.

Wing trilled and put it down in front of Blue and backed up, just to see what he'd do with it.

The beast-former tilted his head to one side as he regarded this new thing, then leaned down to sniff at it. It didn't smell edible, though it did smell like there was something inside. Experimentally, he gnawed on one corner. Nope, not edible. The angle of Blue's ears indicated confusion as he regarded the thing, pawing at it to turn it, examining it from all sides. Then he felt something move under his claw, and his ears went up straight.

The scent of food came from the box. There was something yummy in there. He could smell it.

Wing could almost see the gears in Blue's head turning as the beast-former investigated the part that had moved. Claws poked at the spot, seeing if anything else moved. There were a couple of attempts to just tear it open, but after the first couple of tugs Blue went back to checking for movement. The tries were still random, but he was clearly learning. Wing sat nearby and trilled and cooed encouragement, delighted that his first effort at a real toy seemed to be a success. Blue was _thinking_ , and that was a huge step forward.

It took a few breems for Blue to notice that parts only seemed to move after certain other parts did, that there was a sequence to it. He examined it, ears twitching back and forth, managing to get another part to move and then catching the sound of another part loosening. Now Wing could almost see the proverbial diode lighting up over the beast-former's blue-furred helm.

It was absolutely adorable, and reminded Wing of watching sparklings back home. He had no idea he was in for raising a sparkling when he rescued Blue, but as unprepared as he felt for such a task, he wasn't about back down from the challenge.

Blue managed to open it enough to get a good whiff of what was hidden inside, though the opening wasn't big enough to reach into. Holding the box still with one forepaw, he continued to tug lightly at the edges of the opening, making a soft triumphant sound every time he got another piece to move. Eventually he had it about half open, at which point he started batting it around between his paws until he managed to shake the treat out. The liberated treat was promptly snapped up, and Blue gave Wing an "I did it!" look.

Wing grinned back at him and moved to carefully extract the toy from Blue's paws. The beast-former was examining the toy again, poking at the half-opened part, seeing what else would move. He twitched when Wing reached for it, since his attention had been on the puzzle box, but he yielded it without a fight, ears pricking up as he blinked at the white jet.

With an approving trill Wing produced another treat and made sure Blue saw him put it in. Both pairs of yellow optics were watching Wing's hands move, Blue's tail curling over his hip to add its perspective. Blue waited patiently for the box to be put down before hooking his claws into it again. This time he showed just how much he had learned; he moved the pieces in the precise sequence until he reached how far he'd gotten the first time. But instead of just swatting the box around to shake the treat out, he paused, contemplating the half-opened box, then resumed working on it, moving new parts aside, poking and probing to find out what was able to move, how far it could move, and what was loosened by moving it. It took him a few breems, but finally he got it all the way open. Making a triumphant sound somewhere between a bark and a small crystal cat's roar, he fished the treat out, making short work of it.

Wing couldn't help but cheer right along with him, utterly delighted by the obvious intelligence still operating despite not thinking like a mech yet. It was far more than he'd expected so soon. "I'm going to have to get you more advanced puzzles," he grinned as he fetched the box and put another treat in, then closed it. "Last one for now."

Blue made a huffing sound, leaning forward to bump his nose against Wing's arm. Again he waited until Wing's hands were clear of the box before catching it in his claws. A couple of times he needed to pause and think briefly as he worked on it, but he had the box open and the treat out in under a breem. Nudging the box in Wing's direction, he flopped down, stretching out his neck in a request for a scratch.


	4. The First Visitor

Starbolt hummed to himself as he matched Wing's airspeed, thoroughly enjoying the chance to spend some time with his friend. As a courier Starbolt spent most of his time working, and occasionally found it awkward to find the time to meet up with friends on his infrequent off days. This time, though, he'd managed to coordinate his schedule with Wing's, giving them an entire afternoon to catch up and chat.

It would be the first time Starbolt had been to the stunt jet's apartment since Wing had rescued a large animal from a long-abandoned warehouse. Wing had said the creature was skittish and nervous, and large enough to be dangerous if not approached cautiously. Starbolt had been intensely curious since hearing about it. He had pets of his own and loved animals, occasionally volunteering as a vet tech when his schedule allowed it.

Wings twitching eagerly, he was already peering through the balcony doors as he and Wing came in to land, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature.

"He's inside his cage," Wing chuckled. "I don't let him loose when no one's home yet."

"Sensible, if he's still settling in." Starbolt waited for his friend to open the door, then followed Wing inside, peering at the large, metalmesh covered cage with only the barred door unobscured.

A huff of greeting became a wary growling sound, and a blue form stirred inside the cage. Starbolt's purple optics met bright yellow as the creature inside the cage glowered at him suspiciously.

Wing trilled a reassuring greeting and knelt to wiggle his fingers inside the cage. "This is Starbolt. He's nice."

The courier watched in fascination, taking care to project the impression of "not a threat", as the blue creature eased out of the corner into which it had backed. It sniffed at Wing's fingers, keeping its wary look on the stranger.

Blue growled low in his throat, but he recognized Wing's tone. One ear lifted from where it had been flattened against his mane, and he fanned his whiskers in Starbolt's direction as he sniffed at the air. His fur slowly began to settle, though a ridge along his backstrut did remain standing on end. Suddenly a treat was under his nose as Wing continued to chatter random soothing things.

It was sweet, Starbolt decided. For an abused being to trust so quickly was delightful. Many mechanimals never really recovered and had issues their entire lives.

The treat got Blue's attention, briefly distracting him from the stranger. He took it gently from Wing's palm, chewing it slowly as he looked back at Starbolt. The courier eased nearer, stopping as blue fur rose into a wary bristle. Starbolt slowly knelt down, putting himself below the creature's optic level, and furred ears slowly lifted in response.

Wing handed him a treat. "Ready to see if he'll take it from you? He's never tried to bite me, other than the tail when I got too close the first time."

Starbolt blinked into the cage, spotting the second set of yellow optics peering at him around Blue's hip. The serpent was watching him, glossa flicking out and in. "You said he's got no venom now, didn't you?" 

"Right. When they did all the repair work the doctor installed an inhibitor," Wing nodded, his tone the same he used when trilling at Blue. "I plan to have it removed when he's cognizant as a mech again. It's just too dangerous before that."

Accepting the treat, Starbolt eased forward, staying low. "Hello there, Blue. I'm a friend of Wing's."

Blue gave the strange mech a long look, then warily stretched out his neck to sniff the extended hand, ignoring the treat for a minute.

"He seems very well socialized," Starbolt added as he held still for the inspection. "I've fostered family pets that didn't take introductions this well."

The beast-former gave Starbolt's hand a thorough sniff, field pulsing against the strange mech's. Blue's own field was more complex than a normal mechanimal, and while still not as deep or complex as a normal mech, it was getting there. He examined Starbolt's field with a mechanimal's directness, searching for any hint of "threat", before finally letting out a soft huff and delicately taking the treat.

Starbolt released a nervous gust of air from his vents; having jaws and dentas of that size near his arm was nerve-wracking. Relaxing just a bit, he smiled at Blue. "Will he let me touch him?"

"He might, but be careful. Just scritch his chin," Wing decided. "If he doesn't pull away, he's good with you touching him."

The other flier nodded, then cautiously extended his hand. It got a wary look and a long sniff from Blue, then the beast-former allowed Starbolt to scritch under his chin. Practically holding his ventilations, Starbolt worked his fingers through blue fur to the metal underneath, finding the jaw seam and running his fingertips along the edge. Narrow wings tensed when Blue made a rumbling sound, but managed to refrain from puling back.

"That's actually a very happy sound," Wing trilled in delight. "As close as he gets to purring."

"Glad to know." Starbolt relaxed a bit more. "I'd hope he'd give some warning if he were about to bite my arm off."

Blue stretched out his neck a little more, yellow optics dimming slightly. Without moving his head or neck, he folded all four legs under him and settled back onto the cage's padding, apparently accepting Starbolt as part of the surroundings. He'd still be keeping an optic on the strange flier, though.

"If you can extract your hand, I think the door can be opened," Wing suggested with a giddy trill. He never thought it would go this well.

Chirring warmly, Starbolt gave Blue one last pat and then withdrew his hand. He slid back a little bit, not wanting to be too close in case the beast-former changed his mind about his being a threat.

Blue's optics returned to full brightness, and he made a chuffing sound as he turned his head. Furred ears cocked in Wing's direction. He recognized the pattern that meant the door was about to open, and then it slid upward. Blue watched the door open, then got to his feet and slowly padded out of the cage. 

Starbolt let out a low whistle upon seeing the size of him, staying very still and projecting "not a threat" as much as he could. The beast-former stretched, then butted his head against Wing, looking for a scratch. His tail curled around, looking at Starbolt steadily, but did not approach.

"He's bigger than he looked in the cage," Starbolt noted.

"Medic Alert indicated that his mech form is likely to be at least twice as tall, bigger than I am," Wing explained as he obediently offered as much attention to Blue as the big mecha wanted.

Starbolt whistled again. "Definitely a big mech. Not one I'd want to come upon suddenly in a dark alley." He looked at the folded wings, noting their size and guesstimating their probable span. "Can he fly?"

Wing nodded. "He has the mechanics for it, but all behavior indicates that he no longer believes he can. His wings were gnawed and badly damaged when I found him, and he was chained down. He probably forgot he could fly about when he forgot he was a mech."

Starbolt winced. "Poor mech. Will you teach him to fly, once he'd progressed more? I don't even know how that would work, since I don't see any signs of engines or thrusters, and you're a jet so you don't flap."

"I'm going to try, but _after_ he remembers he's a mech," Wing rubbed behind an ear. "Assuming he doesn't recall on his own, it'll be so much simpler when I'm sure he understands language."

The courier nodded. That he understood from his own experiences working with mechanimals. "If he starts stretching out his wings and flapping, then he's remembering something." Very carefully, he reached out to pet the blue fur along Blue's shoulder. The beast-former turned his head to watch, but made no attempt to move away. The only thing he objected to was when Starbolt's hand got too close to his wing, and the courier carefully moved his hand farther away from the limb.

"I'll keep that in mind," Wing was grateful for the insight. "For now, he voluntarily stays well away from the doors and windows. I netted them off before I found that out. I was so worried he might bolt. This place wasn't selected with a sparkling in mind."

"He's probably got a full load of animal instinct along with the alt mode. Animals aren't stupid; they know open air is dangerous if they can't fly or at least glide. He's got wings, but he doesn't know how to use them, so open air is very dangerous. Thus, he stays away from the windows because he doesn't want to risk a fall he can't stop." Starbolt inspected one of the folded wings as best he could without touching it.

Wind nodded, delighted that Blue was being so tolerant of a stranger. "I'm glad he seems to like you so quickly."

"I'm glad he likes me... Now I know I'll be able to visit you without having to worry too much about losing any limbs. He's a magnificent critter, too." Starbolt was openly admiring the blue-furred form.

"I'll be fascinated to learn where the alt came from," Wing admitted. "It's unlike anything I've been able to find records of."

"I'm not even sure what to call it." Starbolt scratched the back of his helm. "Crystal viper for a tail... The body frame looks sort of like a bulky cyberwolf, but the head and mane are more cyber-lionlike. I've never seen an animal made up of parts of other animals before. Wonder who thought that up..."

"No clue, but the concept seems to be called a chimera when it's an animal, or a taur when it's part mech," Wing shrugged. "Imagining such things seem to be a source of great amusement among many organic races. They don't usually try to make them though."

"Chimera... As good a descriptive as any. Can't see why they'd be a source of amusement, though. Something like this would be a terror to meet unexpectedly or at a bad time." The other flier pondered for a moment, then dismissed the thought with a flip of his wings. "Maybe when he can talk, he can give you some idea of where he came from."

"I'm hoping so," Wing turned serious. "Because either this critter is real somewhere and he scanned it, or someone built him to look like this. I'm really hoping for the second."

"We won't know until he can talk, if he even knows himself." Starbolt flicked his wings in a shrug. "It's an amazing alt, though... I would not want to be someone he's trying to track down. That is most definitely a predatory creature, if something like this actually exists somewhere."

"Agreed, though his personality seems to be quite social, mellow and affectionate, even after all the neglect and abuse he suffered," Wing trilled his happiness to Blue. "It's amazing he's not mean."

"After all he's gone through, it's astonishing he's as mellow as he is. While volunteering with the city vets, I've seen creatures that've suffered a lot less so scarred and traumatized by it that they would lash out at anything in reach, or would huddle in a corner and shiver every time someone approached. Some of them could never be rehabilitated. This fellow is very lucky not to have gone that way." The courier adjusted his position, sitting down on the floor.

Blue made his growl-purr again, then, in another first, proceeded to flop down across Wing's lap, resting his chin on his forepaws. The stunt jet froze except for a startled flick of his slender wings before they folded against his back again.

"Well, I don't think I'll be moving for a while," Wing began to stroke Blue's neck with an occasional scritch to his ears and carefully searched Blue's field. Yellow optics blinked lazily up at Wing, the beast-former's field revealing only a prickle of wariness remaining about Starbolt's presence. Otherwise he was quite relaxed. Every time he shifted slightly, blue fur tickled along the edges of Wing's plating.

"Probably not," Starbolt agreed with a chuckle, regarding the blue mass flopped over Wing's lap.

"It's a good sign though, that he's this relaxed around you."

Starbolt settled closer to Wing, though keeping a careful distance from the beast-former. He gave a striped hip a quick scratch, then settled down to enjoy his friend's company.

Blue twitched an ear at the touch, but otherwise barely reacted. The two mechs were free to make sounds at each other as much as they wanted, as far as he was concerned, as long as the scratching didn't stop and he didn't have to move.


	5. Out For A Walk

It had taken a while, but finally Wing had judged that Blue was settled and calm enough to be taken outside for short outings. Blue was less nervous than he had been, less likely to strike out from nerves or nervousness, but he was still a big critter. Taking him outside would require muzzling him, to ensure that no one could get bitten even by accident.

Blue would tolerate a collar, as long as it wasn't tight to his throat. The collar that had held him chained in the warehouse had been tight enough to imprint on his neck plating, as well as rubbing off all the fur. But the muzzle, on the other hand...

His ears had gone back as soon as he'd spotted it. When Wing had opened the cage to try and put it on him, somehow the beast-former had eeled past him and darted across the room, keeping a wary optic on the white jet. For such a large creature, he was amazingly flexible, as Wing found out the third time Blue managed to slip out of his hands and escape.

Now Wing was gazing at his charge, not sure whether to laugh or groan. Blue had somehow managed to wedge himself under a table, both forepaws over his muzzle, watching Wing warily.

Wing regarded him right back but didn't try to get him out. Blue was bigger, heavier and much stronger. There was absolutely no point to trying to pull him out. It wasn't going to work.

"Okay, so you don't think the muzzle is acceptable, but it's the only way you can go outside," Wing talked to Blue, even though the beast-former had shown no indication of understanding yet. He regarded the two muzzles in his hand, then the mech staring at him from under the table, and sighed. With an obvious gesture he moved to put the muzzles away and then went to mix up some energon treats for Blue.

"Peace?" Wing offered one of the treats.

Flattened ears twitched, then slowly rose from where they were almost buried in the thick off-white mane. His snake-tail swished back and forth, watching the jet carefully. Finally, with the air of a creature expecting a trick, Blue lifted his head, sniffing the air and clearly debating whether it was safe to come out yet.

Wing remained still, crouched and hand with the treat extended, his other hand in clear view. The beast-former eyed Wing warily, nose twitching as the smell of the treat wafted over his scent receptors. One paw extended warily out from under the table. Then the other paw. Slowly, with some wriggling to get all his various appendages out of the tight space, Blue emerged from under the table, sidling closer to the white jet, who remained still.

"That's right, I'm not going to hurt you," Wing cooed. The blue-furred head bobbed back and forth, making sure the coast was clear and muzzle-free before finally crab-walking into reach, stretching out his head to take the treat. As with every time Wing had offered a treat, the claim was allowed and nothing bad came of it. Then Wing slowly reached a hand out to stroke.

The hand got a wary look, but since there was no muzzle in it, Blue let it touch his fur, tilting his head to touch his nose to Wing's palm. He took another step closer, his other ear lifting from its flattened position.

"There. See, I'm not going to hurt you," Wing trilled as he scritched Blue's jaw, then slowly produced another treat and offered it.

The second treat was taken delicately from Wing's palm. Blue eased closer, calming down. His fur went from flat to his frame to its usual fluff, ears swiveling forward. Yellow optics dimmed ever so slightly. Wing continued to pet him softly.

"You don't need to worry about me. I won't hurt you," Wing promised before standing to fetch the muzzles, though he made a point of hiding them from Blue's vision as he settled down and offered a third treat. The beast-former tilted his head, cocking his ears slightly. He still didn't understand language, but he could understand tone just fine. The furry blue frame was visibly relaxing as he took the third treat from Wing's palm and Wing continued to trill and coo to him.

Eventually Wing judged Blue to be relaxed enough and moved with the precise speed programmed into him by a lifetime of training in Metallikato and a Knight of Light to slip the larger muzzle around Blue's helm and snapped the lock closed before Blue's sedative hazed processors realized what had happened.

It took a klik for Blue's foggy processors to realize that was going on, and by then the snake head was also grabbed and muzzled, then let go. His optics went wide and his head went back, but with his processors dulled by the sedative, his backward skitter ended in him tripping over his own hind feet and tail, and he went over onto his back. Ears flat to his head, he stared at Wing in astonishment, then pawed at the muzzle, hind legs kicking as he tried to turn himself over.

Wing quickly rolled him over, unafraid of the impressive claws.

Those claws scrabbled on the floor for a moment, then Blue managed to get a clawhold and went scrambling across the floor. He ran smack into the couch, skidded in a loud scrape of claws, and tried to wedge himself behind it. Unfortunately for him, his shoulders proved too wide, and he ended up stuck partway in, his back half sticking out.

With a shake of his helm and a sigh, Wing walked over and grabbed the hips sticking out to pull him out. Pulling the beast-former out wasn't difficult. Clawtips scraped on the floor, but Blue had no hold and his processor was still too fuzzy to get away. Turning his head, he gave Wing the most pitifully miserable look in his arsenal, then vented a huge sigh and twitched one ear in a gesture that, from him, translated roughly as "okay, you win".

Wing trilled, pleased, and let go to walk to Blue's shoulder to stroke his neck a few times before clipping the leash chain in place on the collar. "See, it's not so terrible, and now you can come outside."

The sound of the leash made Blue's wings twitch, then he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. The beast-former shook his head in an attempt to clear it, then pawed at it as if trying to swipe away the cobwebs the mild sedative had caused. Sitting there, he refused to budge until his processor had cleared some, and only then did he stand up. He almost walked into the wall before correcting, shaking his head again and giving Wing a mildly reproachful look for the sedative.

"If you hadn't run from me like I've _ever_ hurt you I wouldn't have used it," Wing shrugged and waited for full alertness to return to his charge. "Come on, time to go outside," he walked towards the door out of the apartment.

Wing's tone got a couple of blinks, then Blue followed Wing to the door. He poked his head into the small triangular room, looking around with wary curiosity before following the jet. The doors slid closed and suddenly the room was moving down.

That startled Blue enough that he jumped, all four feet leaving the floor, and when he came back down all of his fur was standing on end. He looked like a blue puffball. After a few kliks, his fur began to settle, and he sniffed at the edges of the room before easing closer to Wing. He was still very close to Wing's leg when the same door that had closed opened to reveal a lobby with a score or so of mecha moving about. A couple waved or pinged greetings to Wing, and he returned them, his field relaxed even as his grip on the short chain leash was tight.

New scents washed over Blue, who promptly forgot about the moving room. His whiskers fanned out, scent receptors working overtime to try and take in all the new smells. He peered out at the strange mecha, ears flickering back and forth, but stayed close to Wing who waited until Blue began to relax a bit to try and gently tug him forward. Blue followed the gentle tug without resisting, though he stayed close enough to Wing that the jet would probably have bits of blue fur caught in his leg joints for a couple orns. His ears were straight up, twitching as he tried to follow all the sounds. His tail curled around behind Wing, scales rasping against white plating, to peer at the mecha on that side.

The big beast-former was impossible not to notice. His size and shape ensured that. All over the lobby, mecha stopped to stare.

"Wing!" a brightly painted airframe waved as he all but ran over, only just checking his enthusiasm enough not to assault Blue with a hug. "So this is what's kept you hidden."

"It's his first trip outside since I rescued him," Wing nodded, his field warm and welcoming to the hyper jet.

Yellow optics blinked at the stranger as Blue sniffed at the air, sorting out the newcomer's scent from the background mass of scents. He tilted his head from one side to the other, spinal fur prickling with slight nervousness, but he was well within Wing's field, and Wing's response to the approach helped calm the beast-former down. One ear swiveled toward Wing as Blue made a questioning "hhhhroof?" sound.

"Blue, this is Slipshot," Wing smiled and motioned to the bright jet. "Slipshot, this is Blue. He's a beast-former, but the abuse he suffered has made him forget he isn't an animal."

"He's amazing. I've never seen an alt like this, not even in history vids," Slipshot trilled with a bit of an in-place dance and fluttering wings. "Is Blue his real designation?"

"Just a place holder until he remembers, or enough of his processors and coding comes on line for the doc to find it," Wing shook his helm. "He's being very good so far, despite the grief I had getting those muzzles on."

Without taking a single step more than he had to, Blue stretched out his neck for a better whiff, whiskers twitching. His snake tail curled around, arching up over his back, glossa flickering out. One furred ear remained cocked forward while the other turned back toward Wing. Caution was evident in every line of the beast-former's frame and Slipshot respected it by not getting closer despite his curiosity.

"So where are you taking him?"

Wing cracked a grin. "If all goes well, to a confection shop for some treats, then one of the parks. Not sure how far he'll manage today though."

Other mecha had begun to whisper among each other, staring at the impressive blue-furred creature. More than one mech flinched reflexively when the tail came up and they realized it was a live snake. They were curious about the creature, but its sheer size made them nervous.

Having satisfied his scent receptors, Blue eased back again, his furry flank brushing Wing's plating. Lifting his head, he looked around again, ears twitching as the whispers registered. He didn't understand the words, but he could hear the sounds and understood the tone wasn't the same calm/happy one that Wing used, but neither was it the pain-was-going-to-come tone from those in the warehouse.

Wing looked down as Blue calmed and settled at his side a bit more. "Ready to go?" He made a small movement of the chain, just a light suggestion of forward. The furry ear facing Wing twitched, then Blue took a step forward, looking toward the door. Step by step, he and Wing headed in that direction. They were just reaching it when the door opened, a mid-sized grounder hurrying through and almost running into Wing. Blue made huffing sound of surprise, hopping back a step and tightening the chain held tightly wound around Wing's off hand.

"Oh! Sorry, I almost ran into you," the mech apologized, then noticed Blue staring at him cautiously and froze.

"He's okay. The muzzles are just a precaution. He's never actually been aggressive," Wing promised.

"He's... very big." The mech was eying Blue nervously, despite the muzzles. Blue only looked back at him, leaning forward to sniff. The beast-former sneezed, making the mech jump back. That earned him a strange look from Blue.

"Quite large," Wing agreed as he shifted to move around the mech staring at Blue. "You're being so good," Wing trilled down to Blue.

Blue gave the strange mech another long look, then very deliberately scooted around behind Wing, keeping the white jet between himself and the staring. His tail kept an optic on the stranger until they were outside, at which point the beast-former promptly forgot the other mech even existed.

The wind blew the scents of the city at them, and from the way Blue's nose was twitching his scent receptors were working overtime to sort it out. His ears were flicking every which way, trying to listen to all of the sounds, while he seemed uncertain of what he wanted to look at first. Despite it all he padded along at Wing's side, staying close to the jet he associated with food, safety and not hurting.

Then he caught a whiff of something _amazing_.

Blue stopped suddenly enough that Wing jerked to a halt when the leash went taut. The beast-former's head was up, nose working and whiskers fanned out, trying to track on that smell. It smelled _so_ good; he wanted to know what the source of that smell was. 

When he finally started moving again, it was more slowly, pausing to give doorways a whiff.

Wing chuckled and followed, though he was reasonably certain where they were headed. The confection shop two doors ahead smelled good even to Wing. He could tell when Blue located the source of the scent. Furred ears pointed straight ahead, and the beast-former practically dragged Wing to the door. Blue looked at the door for a moment, then proceeded to stick his head inside, sniffing.

Everyone inside without obvious wings looked up, and froze just a fraction of a klik after those with the more advanced sensor nets. Bright stares focused on Blue and didn't even notice Wing as he scooted around his charge to come inside the confection shop.

The first being inside to move was a sparkling, who rushed towards them with a gleeful expression, squealing in excitement. The movement caught Blue's attention, his head coming around to focus on it. Seeing the sparkling, he paused for several long nanokliks, then lowered his head to sniff. The sparkling's creator made a nervous sound, taking a few steps forward. One thing Blue's instincts were very clear on was that this approaching shape was a _sparkling_ , and sparkling were _not_ to be harmed. The beast-former's only reaction was a twitch of dark blue feathers when the small shape collided with his striped foreleg and latched on.

"Blue won't hurt him," Wing trilled reassurance to many nervous mecha around them. He knelt and gently tried to detach the cooing sparkling from Blue's foreleg.

Blue had gone so still he might have been a statue except for the twitching of his tail (staying well out of reach) and the prickling of the fur along his backstrut. He stared down at the small shape on his leg, watching as Wing tried to pry the sparkling off. Small hands were buried in the beast-former's fur, bright and innocent optics staring up into nervous yellow.

Even after the sparkling was finally detached, the beast-former remained motionless until it was safely in its creator's arms. Only then did Blue finally move, ears twitching back and forth. The entire event eased the tension in the establishment in a way nothing Wing could say ever would have.

"I'm guessing this is your new project," the proprietor said from behind the counter.

"Yes, this is Blue," Wing smiled warmly as he walked forward. "He likes sweets at least as much as I do."

Blue kept his attention on the other mecha as he followed Wing, at least until they got close to the counter. Then the smells caught his full attention again. His whiskers fanned out as he poked his head forward, following the scents and bumping his nose on the side of the display case. Ears twitched in a puzzled way, then Blue bumped against the case again. One leg came up to paw at the display, then Blue looked up at Wing, ears in a position of bafflement.

"Clear-steel," Wing tapped it. "It's not for us to open."

The beast-former looked from Wing to the display case and back, then sniffed at the transparent metal, pawing at it once more before subsiding, looking a bit disappointed. Someone chuckled behind him. Lifting his head a bit, Blue looked at Slow Boil, one ear twitching toward Wing, before looking back at the displayed treats. The majority of them he'd never seen before, but all of them smelled tasty.

"A half dozen rust sticks, four hard jellies and one of the magnesium-copper puffs," Wing ordered, and Slow Boil quickly filled a disposable box with the selection. It remained on the counter while Wing paid.

Furry ears went up as Blue watched. He cocked his head, then pushed up onto his hind paws, bracing his forepaws on the display case, to sniff at the box. It skidded slightly across the counter as he nosed at it, investigating every edge he could reach. If he hadn't been muzzled he probably would have tried to chew a hole through the box to get at its contents.

Slow Boil deftly kept the box on the counter despite the nudging, then handed it to Wing with a smile. "Have a sweet orn, Wing."

"Thanks Slow Boil," Wing smiled back and used the box more than the chain to guide Blue to a table near the door. "Do you want some?"

Furry ears were up so straight their joints creaked. Blue's optics flitted between the box and Wing, then he extended his neck to poke at it. Another attempt was made to get the box open, then he huffed softly at Wing.

It was enough to make Wing snicker and he opened the box. The first out was the hand-sized pastry that was set out of Blue's easy reach. Then one of the small jellies came out.

Yellow optics immediately fixed on the jelly, tracking it as Wing's hand moved. Blue's tail curled up to look, weaving lazily back and forth. The beast-former tilted his head, then lifted one forepaw to tug at the muzzle he was wearing before flicking his ears at Wing. Wing smiled back and put the small treat between two fingers and slipped it between the muzzle bars, unafraid of being bitten.

More than one of the watching mecha ruffled their plating nervously. Even with his mouth closed, Blue's formidable canines still showed quite clearly. The beast-former opened his mouth just enough to be able to suck the treat in, his purr-growl echoing through the confectionery. Sitting back on his haunches, he placed both forepaws on the table, cocking his ears at Wing.

"You can have another in a bit," Wing chuckled and went to take a bite from the large pastry he ordered for himself. "You are such an endless fuel tank."

Blue tilted his head, flicking his ear, then leaned forward to get a whiff of the pastry in Wing's hand. The sound he made carried a hint of "why can't I try a bit of that?", but the beast-former only settled back, watching the white jet intently.

Wing simply chuckled, took another bite, then offered a jelly between his fingers inside the muzzle. The offered jelly was taken as delicately as the first. Blue purr-growled again, the sound getting some uneasy shifts from the other mecha in the shop. They were still keeping their distance, keeping a cautious sensor on the creature. The beast-former, for his part, was on his best behavior. One ear remained pointed toward Wing, while the other twitched around, listening to the other shop patrons moving around or whispering. He quickly got the pattern. Wing would eat two or three bites, then give Blue a treat. It went on until the pastry was gone, and the box was put in Wing's subspace.

"Ready for a bit more of a walk?" Wing trilled as he stood. The beast-former tilted his head, then dropped his forepaws back to the floor and stood up, stretching. His fur fluffed out, making him look like a blue puffball, then settled back down. Blue used one foreclaw to scratch under his mane, cast one more look at the display cases, then followed Wing out the door. 

The street outside was even more crowded than before, but there almost always seemed to be space around the pair. Occasionally someone would brush close, but there was little contact as they walked towards the nearest part. Other passers-by stopped to stare at the huge creature. They'd seen other mecha walking their pets, but few were this big. The fangs showing through the muzzle made more than a few twitch, and the circle of clear space began to widen as word began to spread.

Blue stayed close to Wing, nose working, whiskers twitching visibly. He peered around, looking at the strange mecha, taking in what he could see of the area. Wing had to wonder just how much the beast-former could process of what he saw. Realistically, all Wing knew was that Blue wasn't inclined to chase those in alt mode. It was a good thing, since Wing had no doubt that it would take his thrusters and some damage to them both to control the mech beast-former if he got excited enough to chase.

Even the mecha on the roads were beginning to take notice, some of them slowing down to stare. On the sidewalks, mecha were clustering together to stay away from the strange blue-furred creature. One mech separated from the traffic passing by, pulling to the side and transforming. The mech bore the bold patterns of the Protihexian Enforcers. He eyed Blue as he approached, then looked at Wing.

Wing immediately offered up his ID and attached the permits pertaining to Blue and Wing's authorization to have him. 

The Enforcer paused, processing them, then pinging for confirmation from dispatch. It was quickly confirmed that the white stunt jet was indeed properly licensed to have the impressive creature, and the creature itself had been properly registered. The Enforcer could see that it was muzzled, at both ends, as the law dictated. He could see why it would make other mecha nervous, but everything was properly in order. Nodding to Wing, the Enforcer transformed again and went on his way.

Blue cycled his optics several times in a blink, then sneezed twice and shook his head. One dark blue wing bumped lightly against Wing's side as the beast-former peered ahead. Then they were walking again, and the environment changed. Rather suddenly to Blue's perspective, the buildings and masses of mecha were gone, replaced by crystals and winding paths.

The beast-former made a curious sound, his ears going straight up. He didn't stop walking, but he did slow down, lowering his head to sniff at the path. His tail curled over his back, glossa flicking. Blue sidled over to one of the crystals, sniffing at it curiously, then peered ahead, looking around. Now that the hordes of mecha had vanished, he was relaxing, blue fur settling.

Wing trilled encouragingly to the beast-former as they walked down the path. Blue rumbled in reply, padding forward with ears flicking. Then his head went up, nose working. The jet followed as the beast-former headed for one of the crystal trees, peering up along its trunk before pushing up onto his hind feet and stretching up to his impressive full height, bracing himself with forepaws on the crystal. 

Peering up around him, it took Wing a klik to spot the shape of a cyber-bee hive built where one of the branches joined the trunk, a mass of narrow hexagonal tubes of varying lengths, made of thin metal and bits of crystal all attached together into one construction. Blue was either hearing the drone of the bees themselves or maybe smelling the sweet oil the bees made in their hive.

Blue stretched his neck toward the hive, sniffing at it. Wing tugged on the leash, but before he could pull Blue back the beast-former suddenly snorted loudly and skittered backward, ending up on his rump. He pawed at the muzzle, his expression part "ow!" and part "...the heck was that?!"

Wing continued to pull him away, hoping to avoid a swarm and also to get Blue close enough that he could reach in and pull the stinger out. The beast-former's fur bristled as he glared up at the hive, but he followed Wing's tugs away from the tree. His nose was smarting, but he couldn't reach it through the muzzle. A furred side and dark wing pressed against the jet as Blue eased closer, not resisting as Wing's fingers hooked into the muzzle and carefully pulled the stinger out.

"Little things can hurt you too," Wing told him. "They're protecting their home."

Furred ears twitched back and forth, then Blue aimed a growl at the tree, bristling his mane and back fur at the hive. Then he turned his back on it, grumbling something and moving away from the bee-infested tree. Every now and then he'd lift a paw to rub at the muzzle, though he still couldn't reach past it. Then the sound of sparkling voices got his attention, and his ears went straight up.

"You like sparklings?" Wing trilled and took a step in that direction, the chain loose, hoping he guessed right.

The sound Blue made was part huff and part bark, about the loudest sound Wing had heard from him yet. The beast-former was still peering in the direction of the voices, craning his neck to try and spot the source.

"Well come on then," Wing chuckled and walked towards the gathering. He was curious what it was himself.

A little ways ahead, about a half dozen or more sparklings were playing under the watchful optics of their creators, laughing and hollering and chasing each other. There was a pause as they registered the approach of the stunt jet and beast-former, and then there was a chorus of happy squeals as "big furry thing!" registered. A moment later they were swarming toward the pair.

Blue froze. His ears went almost flat, then slowly rose again, twitching back and forth uncertainly. Yellow optics were wide as he stared at the sparklings swarming toward him, reaching out to pet him and ignoring the frightened shouts of their caretakers.

"It's all right," Wing called out to the adults that came running. "He's friendly, and fully muzzled."

That calmed the adults, but the youngsters pawing at him only became more excited when one realized he had wings and tried to pull one out.

Blue was doing his best impression of a statue. His field seethed with uncertainty; he didn't want to move in case he accidentally hurt one of the sparklings. Furry ears twitched at the tugging on his wing feathers, then he gently tugged his wing out of the tugging fingers, lifting it out of reach. It was the first time Wing had seen one of the appendages not folded down since Blue had been at the vet for repairs; Blue usually kept them folded firmly against his back. Their span was impressive.

The beast-former's ears shifted, then he slowly craned his neck to sniff at the sparklings. He promptly had small fingers buried in his mane, trying to reach and play with his wiggling ears.

"Okay, no grabbing the ears," Wing reached to gently discourage the efforts. "This is Blue. Be nice."

There were a few more attempts to grab Blue's ears the sparklings subsided. They chirped greetings, a couple even introducing themselves. Blue blinked at them, then carefully leaned over to sniff. A surprised huff escaped as one little femme buried her face in his chest fur, chirping at the softness. His tail, kept high and well out of reach, curled around his wing to stare.

"Optics!" someone squealed in delighted surprise, pointing at the serpent tail.

"Yes, his tail has optics," Wing smiled as he gently stroked Blue's neck, hoping to relax him.

The sight of that tail and the realization that it was a snake sent the adults into another fit of nervousness. The tail stayed up over Blue's back, well out of grabbing range, stretching up almost completely vertical when any of the sparklings tried. Its glossa was a blur of motion as it flickered out and back in through the muzzle. Blue cocked an ear toward the adults, but didn't take his attention away from the sparklings. He was only moving his head, wings, and tail; all four feet and their impressive talons remained firmly on the ground. The sparklings cooed and chirped and trilled, apparently oblivious to the nervousness of their creators.

More squeals from a distance away indicated that more sparklings had noticed the huge creature. Blue lifted his head to look, and then his ears went flat again. Now his field was full of nervousness. Taking pity on him, Wing carefully detached the excited sparklings, leading the beast-former away.


	6. Making Progress

About a vorn after Wing had rescued Blue, the small jet had moved on to the next city he'd intended to visit, Iacon. Before leaving Protihex, Medic Alert had given the beast-former one last checkup, making sure all the repair work had healed well and checking on the status of his processors. He'd been satisfied with the amount of processor activity he'd found and had given Wing the all-clear to take Blue with him. He'd also included contacts with the medical community in Iacon so Wing wouldn't have to guess who was suitable to approach.

Blue had spent the trip curled into a tight ball of blue fur in his travel cage. Wing had spent it checking and double checking his permits. He did not want to get caught by surprise by some law in the planetary government's core. Iacon may have the title of the City of Knowledge, but it was also the city of politics, the city of the Prime, the city at the core of corruption.

Wing could not have been more relieved to get off the transport, through customs, and to the apartment he'd rented here. Once let out of the cage, Blue'd taken a good long sniff of Iacon's air, sneezed once, and started exploring the new territory.

The beast-former had been doing well. He was slowly moving to more complex puzzles and toys, and had shown signs that his expanding processor capacity had uncovered his language center. He still couldn't talk, but he was beginning to understand actual words instead of just sounds. On a couple of occasions Wing had found him sitting up on his haunches in front of the door locks, staring at them as though trying to puzzle out how they worked. He made a mental note to improve the locks on his meditation room. He did not need Blue getting into his blade collection unsupervised.

There were also signs that Blue was figuring out what his wings were for again. One orn Wing had come home to find that Blue had managed to catch a turbo-pigeon and was holding it pinned while watching how its wings moved, then inspecting his own half-spread wing. The beast-former had eventually let the pigeon go unharmed, ears shifting slowly back and forth in the way they did when he was thinking hard.

It was enough for Wing to smile, and he immediately ordered a half dozen vids of avians flying. One of the holo screens was now programmed to turn on when Blue was awake and play the vids at random for as long as he was awake to watch. The result of that was that Blue spent most of the orn in front of the screen, head tilting back and forth in a very amusing way, stretching and testing his wings. A few stray items had been knocked over the first time he'd spread them out to their full span, and the wind from the first time he'd tried flapping had surprised the jet. Blue had yet to actually get off the ground; he wasn't seriously trying since the apartment was far too small for that, and though he gave the fliers' balcony speculative looks from time to time he still had yet to venture out onto it.

When Wing took him to the shared roof space, Blue was nervous for a while, sticking close to the small jet. Furry ears went from flattened back to twitching cautiously back and forth, blue fur spiking and flattening all along his backstrut. The beast-former refused to go anywhere near the roof edges, sticking to near the center of the roof. It took some tugging on his primary feathers to draw his attention back to Wing, then some awkward miming of flapping and holding on to get the hint across. Blue tilted his head back and forth, then dug his claws into the roof surface, testing his grip before spreading out his wings. Then it was Wing's turn to find something to hold onto as those wide, broad wings began to beat, sending gusts of wind across the roof.

With a joyful laugh the jet fired his thrusters and shot up, clear of the small windstorm. He watched, though he didn't know what to look for. Flight by flapping was radically different from flight by thrusters, or even the slow pro-jobs and rotors. Though he supposed the rotors were the closest, it wasn't that close. There was a long awkward moment where the wingbeats were uneven, one wing descending before the other. Blue flattened his ears, looking back over his shoulders, his look of concentration both amusing and cute at the same time. Dark blue wings flailed for a moment as he tried to synchronize the beats.

Wing gave a trill to get Blue to still and pay attention to him before he landed in front of the beastformer. Carefully he knelt in front of Blue and gently gripped each wing in one hand to guide them in slow, synchronized beats. The beast-former went stiff in brief surprise, then raised a curious ear at Wing and turned his head to watch what Wing's hands were doing. It took a klik, but the jet could almost see the proverbial light fixture click on over Blue's head. Dark wings began to follow the guiding movements, settling into a somewhat tentative rhythm. When Wing felt Blue had it down, he gradually let go and stepped back to watch.

Blue flicked an ear, looking from the jet to his wings and back. Then he began moving them in the rhythm Wing had shown him, slowly at first and then with more force. Bits of debris that flecked the roof rose in clouds as Blue's wingbeats sent gusts of air across the surface. With a smile Wing lifted off to watch from above once more.

* * *

The wing exercises had lasted a couple of joors, until the sun had begun to set, after which Blue and Wing had returned to the apartment. Blue had practically inhaled his energon, then flopped onto the floor and almost instantly fallen into recharge. He'd remained like that for the rest of the evening, not even twitching at Wing moving around.

Several joors later the sound of high-powered, loud engines screaming past entirely too close to the balcony woke the beast-former. All six limbs twitched as he came out of recharge with a start, flattening his ears and glaring after the flier that had interrupted his rest. Growling softly to himself, he yawned and stretched, then sat up and looked around.

The apartment was dark, Wing already locked in his room for recharge. As the rumbling of the passing jet stilled to nothing but memories, Blue was left with little desire to go back to recharge and less by way of options. There were his toys, but he needed light to play with most of them.

Using one hindpaw to leisurely scratch at an itch, Blue pondered for a moment, one ear twitching back and forth. After a klik he got to all fours, indulging in a backstrut-creaking stretch before heading over to the door to Wing's room. The keypad glowed softly in the dark next to the door. The beast-former looked at it for a moment, sitting down and then up on his haunches to study it more closely. He'd been watching Wing use that keypad and had figured out that certain keys had to be pressed in order to open it, though his attempts to do so had so far failed.

Wire whiskers twitched as Blue contemplated the keypad. Leaning forward, he sniffed carefully at the keys, searching for the ones that had the strongest scent on them. Keys that were not used shouldn't have much scent on them, or at least not very strong. Or so the beast-former figured. It took him a few kliks to identify the used keys, then to match scent with location. Lifting one forepaw, he began poking at the keys with the tip of one claw.

It took a few tries, but eventually the door slid open. Furred ears went straight up as Blue peered into the room. Dropping his front paws back to the floor, he stood up, padding slowly in, slowly enough the door almost closed on his tail. His whiskers twitched as he sniffed, then he lowered his head and began exploring the new space.

The room was small, so the exploration didn't take long. There was a large low couch where the white form of Wing was sprawled, a couple boxes on the ground, and a door on the far wall. Turning, the beast-former walked over to the couch, stretching his neck to sniff briefly at Wing. His head tilted to the side before lifting his front paws onto the couch and carefully hopped up.

Wing shifted and made a muffled sound, but didn't rouse.

Blue stayed perfectly still for a moment, watching the jet to see if he was going to do anything else. When Wing stayed firmly in recharge, the beast-former carefully maneuvered himself around, finding the largest space next to the white jet. Carefully, not wanting to wake Wing, he settled down, tucking his hind legs under his body and resting his chin on his forelegs and sank into recharge once more.

When Wing booted three joors later, it was to heat and limited airflow warnings. A large, heavy, warm object laying on him. He tried to push up against it.

The heavy object shifted slightly in response, and something tickled against Wing's armor. A moment later something whuffed against his audial fins, then the mass moved again.

Wing pushed harder, trying to angle the force to get his charge to the side of him. "Off."

There was a soft grumble in his audial, then Blue slid sideways onto the berth. Yellow optics peered down at Wing, a cool black nose poking at the jet's chin. Blue fur tickled all along Wing's side, where the beast-former was leaning against him.

"So you finally worked out door locks," Wing blinked at his charge, still a bit bleary and focused on passing as much cool air through his systems as possible. "We're going to have to work on 'do not recharge on top of me' next."

The field that pulsed against Wing's flickered, laced with the distinct feeling of pleased-with-self. Blue murred an affirmative, poking Wing's chin with his nose, then putting his chin down on his forelegs again. His manner was one of "my spot now".

Wing chuckled and reached over to scratch Blue's ears affectionately. "Your spot, just no more laying on top of me."

Furry ears pricked up, and Blue tilted his head at Wing. He huffed in agreement, then nudged Wing and put his head back down.

* * *

Six metacycles was more than Wing could stand. He was still in Iacon and he hadn't had a single lover in the city. Not for lack of offers, but for lack of a private berth and a very stubborn beast-former who refused to let him spend the night in his room without breaking in. What finally broke his resolve was when he felt himself boot up to a queue full of arousal directed at a mech who was completely incapable of consenting.

It had taken him less than a joor of flirting at one of the nicer clubs in the area to tempt an attractive, lightly built ground-frame to come home despite the confession of a very large pet that only sometimes managed to be locked out of the berthroom. Slider was curious, and utterly fearless, as Wing flew them up to the landing and set him lightly on his pedes.

"Blue?" Wing called out as he stepped inside, one arm back to ensure that Slider didn't get in front of him before the large beast-former was okay with him being there.

A huff answered, and two yellow optics peered over at them. Blue was in one of the sillier positions Wing had ever seen him in, flat on his back on the floor with back legs and tail stretched out, wings only slightly unfurled, forepaws curled loosely over his chest, where the sun slanted through the windows onto the floor. He blinked at them upside-down, sniffing the air as he took in the presence of a strange mech.

"Blue, this is Slider. He's spending the night," Wing stepped inside, cautious of his charge's mood. "That means you stay out of my room tonight."

"Does he really understand speech that complicated?" Slider asked quietly.

"Sometimes," Wing replied.

Blue-furred ears made a whispering sound against the floor as they cocked forward, and the beast-former gave Wing a puzzled look. Rolling onto his side, he looked from Wing to the berthroom door, then twitched one ear in a "...seriously?" kind of way.

"Yes, seriously," Wing said firmly as he walked up to give the upside down beast-former an affectionate scratch around one ear. "You are not recharging in my room tonight. Understood?"

Furry ears flattened slightly. Blue made a sort of coughing sound, jaws moving oddly for a moment.

"Whhhhhhhrrhy?"

Wing blinked, surprise rolling through his field. "Do you just ask why?"

"Whhhhhhhrrhy?" Blue repeated the mangled glyph, working his vocalizer carefully around the sound. "Mrryyh ssshhprrrrrt."

"My berth. I choose who is in it," Wing said firmly. "Tonight I want Slider with me."

The beast-former craned his neck to look around Wing at the grounder. Yellow optics scrutinized Slider for a klik, then Blue looked back at Wing. "Whhhhhhhhhry?"

Wing considered the question and decided to make a leap. "I want to interface with him and we do not want to be watched."

The look Wing got in response was one of blank incomprehension, which was no surprise. Furred ears pricked forward, waiting for clarification.

"I want to be alone with him tonight," Wing went for a simpler variant. "You can recharge with me tomorrow."

The beast-former drooped a bit, twitching one ear in his gesture of resignation, and put his head back down. His snake tail turned to watch the strange grounder, curling over his hind leg. "Mhhhhhhhhryyy shhhpppprtt."

"My sport?" Slider guessed as he looked at Wing.

Wing snickered. "More likely 'my spot.' Once he figured out how to work the control pad, he decided that my berth was where to recharge. Once we got over the 'no recharging on top of me' idea, he stays on one side of the berth," he explained as he gave blue a last scratch and stood to claim an eager kiss from Slider.

A huff from floor-level made both glance down to see they were being very intently watched. Blue was once again flat on his back on the floor, both pairs of optics fixed on the two mechs. His tail had lifted off the floor, swaying slightly back and forth, glossa flicking out.

"I know I said I was okay with strange flatmates, but that's just creepy," Slider sighed and gave Wing a light tug towards the berthroom door. Wing hummed and following along willingly.

* * *

Wing hated making Blue wear the muzzle, collar and chain when they went out, but it was better than getting into trouble. At least once an outing someone would call the Enforcers on him and they'd come to check his permits and that Blue was 'safely secured' against biting anyone or running off. The more Blue talked the more Wing hated treating him like a mechanimal on any level.

Still, the law was the law, and he obeyed it. Which meant he had to walk Blue like a mechanimal and he did. Blue was no fonder of the muzzle than Wing was, but once the beast-former had been able to understand language the jet had explained to him why he had to wear it. Understanding didn't stop him from glaring daggers at it, though.

On this particular orn, Blue padded along next to Wing, looking up at the buildings towering over them, or peering into the doors of the shops they passed. He ignored the nervous looks he was still getting, more interested in whatever else he could see. Wing always took him to interesting places. His gaze was up and towards the reflections above with a loud noise overloaded his sensitive audials and Wing's field spiked with shock-fear before Blue was yanked hard away from the street.

The beast-former was larger and heavier than Wing, but he was not prepared for the yank. The deafening sound sent him leaping away from it with a yowl of pain and surprise, every hair on his frame standing on end. His forepaws clawed at the air, seeking purchase, then something seemed to "click" inside his CPU and his entire perspective shifted.

"Blue?" Wing's voice was difficult to hear with still-glitching audials, but the mech was soon in front of him, looking up.

Wait a klik. Up? He wasn't big enough in beast form for Wing to have to look up that far.

Wobbling unsteadily and not quite sure why, the beast-former looked down at himself. It took him two solid kliks to realize he was looking down at the top of his own beast-form helm, folded down onto his chest. Lifting his forelegs, he found himself staring at hands like Wing's, with five clawless fingers instead of four short, clawed digits. His paws were folded back against his forearms. No wonder he was so unsteady on his feet; he was standing up on his back legs.

The sight of bare metal armor and robot-form limbs jarred something else in the blue mech's processor. Managing to drag his optics away from his own frame, he looked back at the jet.

"Not Blue," he finally said. "Name... K... Ka..." He made a face. "Kaplan."

"Kaplan?" Wing repeated, his tone making it a query of pronunciation, not a challenge.

The big mech nodded. "Remember now. Designation Kaplan." 

It took another klik for an odd silence to register. Wobbling unsteadily as he tried to find his new center of balance, not used to walking on just two legs, Kaplan looked up, glancing around to find every last mecha in range staring at him.

"They weren't expecting you to transform. Neither was I, but it's good news to me," Wing smiled. "Welcome to being a legal mecha."

Kaplan tilted his head in a way that, in his beast form, usually corresponded to an inquisitive ear-cock. "No more muzzle?"

Another thought occurred to him. His serpent tail came up, turning to look behind him to see if whatever it had been that had startled him was still there.

"No more muzzle." Wing smiled, beyond relieved at that truth. "You can take that off, or I can," he offered.

The mech fumbled with the muzzle for a few kliks, then let out a frustrated huff and let Wing do it. It would take some practice to get used to more dexterous fingers; his beast-alt forepaws were not that flexible.

"What happen?" he finally asked, looking around. "You pulled, loud noise... Ears are still ringing."

"A mecha thought it would be funny to terrify the big mechanimal by blaring his horn and driving right for you. I tried to pull you out of the way, you leap and transformed. The troublemaker is long gone."

Kaplan made a face. "That not fun... Noise _hurt_." He flexed his fingers, watching how they moved. "What now?"

"No, it's not fun," Wing agreed. "Now we should go back to the apartment so you can practice transforming, walking and handling things in this form. The doc will want to see you, but that can wait until morning or after dinner."

"Back home," Kaplan agreed. He took a step forward, almost falling over in the process. Dark wings flailed as he tried to keep his balance, primary feathers almost clipping one of the gawking onlookers and did hit Wing a couple times as the jet helped steady him. Grumbling, he rooted through his processor for the transformation sequence, awkwardly dropping back to all fours. "Easier to walk like this."

"You'll have plenty of time to practice walking on two legs. It's a skill you'll need to master, right along with flying," Wing chatted amicably as they retraced their path.

"Awkward. Fall over a lot." Kaplan flicked an ear as he padded alongside Wing. "Stand too close, I probably fall on you."

"Practice will change that," Wing replied. "You must learn."


	7. Parting Ways

Kaplan angled his wings, catching another gust of wind and riding it between the towering buildings of Crystal City. He was heading back to his apartment, riding the winds almost on automatic. His thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

For nearly three centuries, the blue-furred beast-former had been traveling with Wing, moving from city to city, learning and adapting, making the transition back from the beast he'd turned into. Wing had been there during the testing and Kaplan's final registration as a full mech, not a mechanimal. He'd helped Kaplan with finding work, and a place to live in the city the beast-former finally chose to settle in. The jet had taught Kaplan very much over the vorns.

Now the jet-mech had something on his mind. Kaplan wasn't sure what, but something told him he most likely would not like it. Wing seemed both excited and reluctant, and it was a weird mix.

He landed neatly on four paws on the balcony of the apartment they shared. Folding his wings, he trotted into the apartment, transforming back to his mech form as he entered. The sight of all of Wing's belongings packed made him pause for a klik, fur prickling a bit. Wing had given no hint that he was going to be leaving again.

"Wing?" Kaplan called, looking for his roommate.

"You're home," Wing came out of the berthroom with a smile as he sheathed one of his short swords. "How was today?"

"Not too bad," the larger mech replied. "Busy day on shift, and that one moron who keeps trying to grab my wings was removed from the premises today." Trotting across the room, Kaplan greeted the smaller mech with a purr.

Ever the tactile one, Wing reached out and ruffled the fur of Kaplan's side. "Glad to hear it. Mecha really should know not to pull on other mecha's armor."

"Better my feathers than my tail, though." Kaplan curled the appendage in question around Wing's arm briefly. "Someone did try to yank my tail, then took a better look and scooted back so fast they fell right out of their chair." He snorted amusement, then tilted his helm at Wing. "How did your day go?"

"Busy. Between the legal side of transferring my property and income to you, confirming that I'll be moving out to management and packing the few things I'll be taking, I've barely stopped moving."

If Kaplan had been in beast mode, his ears would have pricked straight up. As it was, his audial antennas did it for him. "You're leaving?"

"It's time for my walkabout to end," Wing nodded. "It's time for me to return to where I belong. You don't need me anymore."

The larger mech took a klik to process that. "So... It's time for you to go home, somewhere I can't follow. You're leaving all that you're not taking with you to me?" An audial antenna flicked, asking for clarification.

"That's the sum of it," Wing smiled and patted Kaplan's shoulder. "I'll be flying out in the morning after you to go work."

The bigger mech was silent for a long moment, then reached down to wrap the smaller mech in a tight hug, wrapping arms and wings around the jet's frame. "I'll miss you."

Wing hugged him back just as tightly and buried his face in the thick synth-fur he'd gotten accustomed to recharging with. "I'll miss you to."

Kaplan held Wing like that for the better part of a breem before slowly, reluctantly loosening his hold. Fishing around in subspace, he produced a single dark blue feather, a primary pulled from his wing by storm winds several vorns earlier, and offered it to the white mech. "Take this with you. A better memento than the bits of blue fur you'll be finding in your joints and vents for the next metacycle." He cracked a small smile.

"Thank you," Wing accepted it with due honor before carefully subspacing it. "I'll never forget you, Kaplan. Now, where would you like to eat tonight?"

The beast-former's tail swished slowly from side to side as he considered. "There's a particularly good restaurant in one of the higher-class districts. If this is going to be our last night together, might as well make it a special one."

Wing smiled warmly, a sensation that spread through his field. "I'd enjoy that very much. Shall we visit a nice washrack first, then dinner, and enjoy the rest of the night in the berth?"

"Sounds like a perfect evening to me." Kaplan brushed light feathers over Wing's back, returning the warm smile. "And Wing... thank you."

"You know there's no need," he reached up to kiss him softly.

"You got me out of that warehouse, helped me be a mech again, saved my life. I can never thank you enough." Kaplan returned the kiss, rubbing his cheek against Wing's.

"I did it because it was the right thing to do," Wing smiled. "The greatest thanks you can give is to live a good life."

"I will do my very best." Kaplan sneaked another quick kiss as they stepped out onto the balcony and took flight. They easily settled close enough to fly together without fouling Kaplan's wings and sank into small talk.


End file.
